Sixteen Going on Seventeen
by bnomiko
Summary: The most memorable events of their high school careers. A Noa & Mokuba centric "arc" made up of separate little stories, all with the common theme of growing up Kaiba. ShonenAi. Stepshipping NoaMokuba and Prideshipping SetoYami.
1. Growing Pains

Pairing(s): Yami + Seto, Noa + Mokuba, Jou + Mai, Yugi + Anzu, Malik + Ryou, Rafael + Valon + Amelda  
Warnings: swearing  
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

**This is a SHONEN-AI fic (male + male romantic relationship). If you are offended by homosexual relationships, please do not read this. Flames will be disregarded.**

Setup for this arc:  
- Since this arc spans several years (starting off with Mokuba and Noa at 15 and ending when they're 18) it may weave in between other existing stories in my Kai-baby / Yami-kins ficverse.  
- As a part of the above ficverse, the usual setup holds true - Noa has been brought out of the virtual world, has a new body, and is living with Mokuba and Seto, and Yami has his own body and is separate from Yugi.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after "Shake Your Kuri-Bon-Bon" but before "Slippery When Wet."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto is 21, Yami 20, Noa and Mokuba 15.

* * *

**Growing Pains**

**Sixteen (Going on Seventeen) Series**

* * *

"Oh God, that feels sooo goood…" Mokuba groaned loudly, and Noa couldn't help but smile in response, knowing he must've really hit the right spot dead on to elicit such a reaction.

The two of them were in the bathroom, sharing in a warm bath. Some people would've found the setting romantic… or in Seto and Yami's case kinky, a prelude to sex. But the teens were a little more in control of their libidos – just barely – and far more practical. Because hot water and a good massage did wonders for knotted muscles…

Mokuba sank further into the tub as Noa continued rubbing his calves the best he could. The black-haired teen didn't realize growing up would be so physically painful. He regularly awoke to muscle cramps in his thighs and calves and the soreness often lasted throughout the day. And he'd been feeling pretty clumsy too, like his hands and feet were too big for him, like his limbs were just too gangly, flailing about out of control. Seto had never mentioned going through anything similar. But then again, Seto hadn't ever been the type to complain about discomfort. And he'd been in a coma during the biggest part of his growth spurt, so it probably had been a total non-issue for him.

Besides, Seto had always seemed so impossibly tall, even when they were little. So tall, Mokuba had thought he'd never catch up. And in some ways, he had never wanted to because Seto was the big brother, the one he looked up to in every possible way. But now Mokuba realized that he could still look up to his brother no matter who was taller, though secretly he was glad that Seto remained taller than him for the time being. It just felt right.

Still, Mokuba was proud of his current height. It meant he was almost an adult. It meant people were no longer trying to pat him on the head like some dumb kid, that they were starting to take him seriously.

Noa smiled at his boyfriend. He wondered if Mokuba realized just how charmingly handsome he was. The younger teen had his hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, the tip of it a shade darker from stirring around in the water. He still had that boyish face that made the younger girls at their school giggle coquettishly, but his chest and shoulders were beginning to broaden and fill out a little more, like an adult's. He'd probably end up with Seto's build… Seto's body, with Mokuba's head.

_Okay… I did NOT need that image in my brain!_ He blamed that errant musing on the fact that he'd been exposed to the sight of his big brother's… exposed body way too many times during his formative years.

But it was understandable that Mokuba would remind him of Seto, or vice versa, whatever the case was. After all they were full brothers, so it made sense. Their parents must've been tall, attractive people.

_Does that mean I'll end up looking like my father?_ At least Gozaburo had been decently tall, though he'd had the sort of barrel-chested build that tended to make a man look stocky.

Noa worried a little about his own physical growth. On some level, it bothered him just a bit that Mokuba was now taller than him. And of course that meant Seto was too. At least he was noticeably taller than Yami, but almost everyone was, so that didn't really count. Noa bet Seto had a thing for shorter guys, what with his ego and all. But maybe Mokuba didn't share his brother's preferences.

"I wonder how tall I'll get," Noa mused aloud, wanting to see if Mokuba would voice his opinion on the matter.

"Dunno. At least as tall as Otogi or Jou, probably."

"But what do you think is the best height for a guy? I mean, for dating…" Noa asked awkwardly.

The black-haired teen sat up a little, pulling his legs back while shrugging. "Taller is nice, but I'm probably only saying that because I keep thinking that everyone's taller than me, or at least part of me thinks they should be. It's weird, you know? Like, even Yugi used to be taller than me, and now… he doesn't even come up to my shoulder, unless you count his hair." Mokube snickered softly at that, but then he shrugged again. "Does it bother you that I've gotten taller?"

"Of course not."

"… Or that I've gotten taller than you?"

"No…"

That was a lie if ever he'd heard one. "Noa…"

"Well, not really. Maybe just a little."

"Because you think I want someone tall, or because you're older so you think you're therefore supposed to be taller?"

Noa frowned. He didn't want Mokuba to think that his height was a problem. "The former, of course. I like that you're tall. It's…" he trailed off, thinking of the way Mokuba's lean muscled calves and thighs had felt under his hands. If it weren't for that promise he'd made to Seto niggling in the back of his head, maybe he'd have his hands on a lot more. "Well, I like it, you know?"

Mokuba gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile. "It doesn't matter to me how tall you are, or how tall you end up. I want you for who you are. Who knows, maybe I'll slow down and you'll get a late growth spurt and end up being the tallest one in the house. And even if not… at least you're already taller than Yami."

Noa couldn't help but laugh for a moment. But then he grew a little more somber. "But it's not just that. I mean, I can sorta guess what you'll end up looking like because of Seto. But what if I end up… well, looking like my father…? It'd bother you, wouldn't it?"

Mokuba shook his head, his ponytail tossing up a small arc of water. "No. Because your eyes are different."

"Huh?"

"Your… father always looked angry, but distant too. He never noticed I existed, I guess. But you're not like that. When I look at you, and I see you looking at me… Even if you ended up looking exactly like him, I wouldn't ever confuse the two of you."

"… Thanks…" Noa mumbled awkwardly.

"I like that you look at me. I want you to look at me."

The older teen had been looking at his boyfriend all right, but maybe he'd been looking at the wrong things. Or more precisely, looking at things from the wrong perspective. He'd been worrying about all the physical stuff when that wasn't what mattered, when that wasn't what had attracted him to Mokuba in the first place. What mattered was seeing the affection and regard that had once been reserved solely for Seto in Mokuba's grey eyes as he gazed back at him. That wasn't something that could be bought or forced. Noa had tried it in the virtual world and it hadn't worked. Even when Mokuba had been so fully under his sway that he'd thought Noa was his big brother, Noa still hadn't been able to coax any emotion from those eyes…

But the emotion was there now.

"Jeez, I really am stupid," Noa sighed.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Then he reconsidered what he had just said. Mokuba looked like he was expecting an explanation… or maybe a compliment. The latter was far easier and more appropriate. "You're damn cute, you know."

Mokuba beamed. "You too. Well, maybe not cute though. That sounds weird. How about…" One of his feet inched forward in a less-than-innocent slide, and Noa practically jumped when it glanced by the inside of his thigh, just above his knee. "Hot?"

_Maybe being in the tub together is a bad idea! _Well, bad according to Seto's definition. Still, Noa couldn't help but shift forward just a bit so that his foot could 'accidentally' bump into something that it wasn't supposed to. At least, that's what he was going for. It was hard to aim with the jets going in the tub, obscuring everything beneath an artificial froth.

"Ow! Did you just kick me?"

"Sorry. That wasn't what I was trying to… uh…" Noa stammered. Mokuba was just looking at him funny and not saying a thing. So Noa quickly fished for an ankle in the water, then pulled the younger teen's leg back towards his lap, settling it atop his own thigh as he began massaging the knotted muscles again.

"Mmm… soo good…" Mokuba began moaning again, his previous complaint all but forgotten.

Noa quirked a half smile. _Note to self: Stick with what works. _It wasn't what he'd been going for, but he still considered it a minor victory of sorts.

* * *

Author's Notes:   
- As noted above (but I wanted to reemphasize) this is sort of a miniseries within the ficverse that focuses more on Noa and Mokuba, with a bit of a misnomer for a title since it starts with them at 15 and ends at 18. Part of the reason for doing this is I think high school kids go though the most memorable milestones, whether it's a first car, first date, graduation, etc. And so I wanted to follow the development of the characters through those milestones while also passing time in the ficverse because let's face it, Seto and Yami really don't have any issues to work through anymore. So why restrict myself to only focusing on the two of them when there's other characters around?  
- I do imagine Mokuba eventually growing to be taller than Seto. Mokuba sleeps and eats; Seto's always sucked at taking care of himself. So he might've stunted his own growth (sounds almost odd considering I have him at 6'1"!) But I love the idea that he ceded whatever extra inches he might've gained to Mokuba, almost like a dad lifting his little boy up to make him feel taller.  
- As always, thanks to Nenya85 for her feedback and encouragement. I'm sure I'll be relying on her expertise heavily through this arc : )


	2. Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story starts before chapter 1, "Growing Pains," but ends at some point in time after "Growing Pains" due to a time jump of several weeks in the middle of it. Hope that's not too confusing… the timeline really only matters to me anyhow.  
- Ages of characters in this story: Starts off with Seto at 21, Yami 20, Noa and Mokuba at 15. By the end, Noa has turned 16.

* * *

**Gentlemen, Start Your Engines**

**Sixteen (Going on Seventeen) Series**

* * *

"Why? At least explain to me that much…" Seto said.

The young CEO had left it up to his brothers to do their own research on what they'd want for their first cars. He had no problem approving of Mokuba's choice, a Tesla Roadster. That had seemed like a car he'd like to drive himself – fast, sleek, and with the bonus of being all-electric, which put it on the cutting edge of technology. Noa on the other hand… talk about a nag in a stable of Throughbreds!

Still shaking his head, Seto added, "When I told you you could have any_thing_ that you wanted, I didn't expect you to take me so literally." He couldn't help but smirk a little at the pun, for Noa's car of choice was a Volkswagon "Thing," a cheaply made, blocky military type vehicle cum surf buggy that hadn't been in production for decades.

Noa shrugged. He really didn't have much of an explanation, actually. He had figured he'd have a whole lifetime to drive "normal" cars, so why not make the first one a really fun, off-the-wall choice? He wasn't going to be in high school forever. And Mokuba had thought it looked cool too… "I dunno. It's just… different. I saw someone at school with one…"

"And that kid probably hates his old man for saddling him with it. They're junkers, like that rustbucket the Mutt drives."

"Like we couldn't get it fixed up and customized?" the green-haired teen scoffed.

"Or you could just pick something else…"

"I've made up my mind," Noa said stubbornly. "You said we could pick whatever we wanted, so that's what I want."

"Jesus Christ, brat…" But Noa was right; he had given them very few restrictions. Pretty much just a generous price cap – one that Mokuba had managed to go over – and nothing else. And Seto wasn't the type who'd go back on his word, no matter how much he might've wanted to, no matter how many buttons Noa was pushing. "All right, all right. Yes, I did say that. But you're stuck with it once we get it, got that? You're driving it 'til it dies or you save up enough to get a replacement, understand?"

Noa gave Seto a quick hug. "Yes! Thanks!"

The brunette merely gave a small grunt in response. He wasn't sure if the younger Kaiba was listening all that carefully, but a deal was a deal. And he did want Noa to be happy with his choice.

Noa couldn't resist grinning in triumph even as he mentally waved off his brother's concern. He had already figured that even if he ended up not liking his car for some reason, he could always share Mokuba's with him and vice versa. Maybe they'd even trade rides at some point. The two of them had already agreed on that, that's why they had chosen very different vehicles.

Seeing the big smile on Noa's face, Seto sighed. Sometimes he forgot Mokuba and Noa were more than just Kaibas – they were teenagers, which meant they'd occasionally make weird and arbitrary decisions. As long as they saved it for things that didn't really matter – that is to say, things that didn't affect Kaiba Corp. or their family – he wasn't going to make an issue of it. But that didn't mean he had to stay silent on the matter either… and if Noa thought he'd heard the end of the jibes, he had another thing coming.

* * *

"God, what a pile of shit," was Seto's initial reaction to the car sitting in the back lot of a used car dealership. No wonder the vehicle was hidden in the back; honestly, who'd buy it, even as cheap as it was?

As per their agreement, Noa had done all the legwork in finding the car, which had proven a little tricky since there just weren't many of them around anymore, at least not in serviceable condition. Oh, he had known they'd need to put some work into it to get it restored, but at the same time he had wanted to make sure he got one in as good a condition as possible, because the point was to refurbish the car, not recreate it from scratch.

The car before him was… well, two different colors, and not in a good way. Or… it had been one color back in the day, but the sun and weather had taken its toll on the yellow paint and faded parts of it to a dull cream. There were a few small dings and a rust spot or two. The convertible top was in similarly worn condition and the seats needed to be reupholstered. And that was just the obvious physical stuff. They'd have no clue how the thing would run until they got behind the wheel.

"Well, let's see if this piece of crap runs," Seto muttered to the salesman. The man quickly assured him it would, then asked them to wait on the curb before scurrying off to bring the car around for a test drive.

After the man had left, Seto turned a little towards Noa and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Huh?"

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

Noa nodded slowly. Of course it was. But that didn't mean he couldn't feel a bit nervous over the whole process. This would be _his _car… his first. He had to make the right decision because that was what Seto expected of him. That's what he expected of himself too. But Noa had to admit, he knew very little about cars; he'd chosen this one for the sheer novelty factor. So it would probably end up being Seto making the final call.

On one hand he hated that, knowing that this was yet another thing he needed Seto's help with… that he needed Seto's approval on. On the other, it was reassuring having Seto there, providing his honest opinion… knowing his big brother was looking out for his best interests.

Seto seemed a bit amused by Noa's dilemma as it played out across his face. For once, he understood what was going through the younger Kaiba's mind. "Don't worry, in the end, it's still your decision. I'm just here for the test drive and paperwork as needed, since they're not going to let you behind the wheel just yet."

"Who said I was worried?" Noa sniffed as the car finally pulled up along the curb, but he wasn't fooling anyone, and he knew it. At least Seto was playing along, letting him have the last word on the matter. It was a bit of a game for the elder Kaiba too, after all… he knew the salesman recognized him the moment he stepped on the lot and was seeing dollar signs. So what if he pulled up in a Ferrari? That didn't mean he was going to get an easy sale or a bloated commission.

The salesman got out of the vehicle and switched to the passenger's seat as Seto climbed into the driver's seat with a slight sneer on his face. Noa hopped into the back. And then they were off… at a much slower pace than Seto normally drove.

It wasn't for lack of effort. Seto was driving the way he always did – hard and almost bordering on reckless. The car just didn't have the power to respond to his demands, the engine mewling like a kitten – a sputtering, sickly one – instead of roaring like a lion. But the young CEO still had a half sneer, half smirk on his face as he thought of all the speeding tickets Noa would never get, no matter how hard he tried. Sure, Noa still had the option of changing his mind, but Seto knew he wouldn't. The green-haired teen was just as… stubborn as he was. A true Kaiba, after all.

Seto was right. By the time they had finished leisurely circling the block, Noa had already gone through his doubts and misgivings and had made a final decision. As soon as Seto parked and glanced in his direction, he nodded. Yes, he was going to do it… he wanted this car. Sure it was slower than a sleeping turtle and the seats weren't comfortable and the entire thing rattled like it was one pothole away from simply falling apart. But if he had already planned on restoring the exterior, why not soup up the inner workings as well? A new engine, a plush interior… The thought of customizing it inside and out was starting to sound pretty appealing.

Seto turned back to the rather twitchy salesman, his icy CEO's mask now firmly in place. It was time to negotiate. "Let's just cut to the chase… You want to get rid of this underperforming pile of rusted metal; I may be willing to tow it off your lot. But the asking price is obviously wrong. $4900? Ha! More like $49.00!"

The salesman gave a forced guffaw. He had hoped that Seto would be a walking wallet, a time-is-money, I'll-pay-full-price type of guy, but now he could feel his fat commission check fluttering away. Actually, he hadn't been wrong in his intial assessment, except Seto really did think the price was a rip off for what, in his mind, was scrap metal… and he didn't want Noa, who was watching him like a hawk, to think that getting ripped off was acceptable. "Well, we're always open to reasonable offers, sir…" At least it looked like he'd make the sale, small as his check might end up being.

Seto smirked. "Reasonable? Start knocking off some zeroes…"

* * *

As much as Noa would've liked to drive his new car out of the lot and straight home, it wasn't going to happen. He wasn't 16 yet; he obviously had no license, no insurance. And Seto sure as hell wasn't going to let him get behind the wheel of _his_ car. So after making arrangements to have the salesman deliver the vehicle to the mansion a little later that afternoon, they stopped by Kaiba Corp. to pick up some things, had lunch, and then headed back home.

The Thing had just arrived at the mansion by the time they got back. Yami was out in the front yard, holding onto Kuriboh and Kuribon, while Mokuba stood a few feet to the side, mouth agape. As soon as the black-haired teen saw Seto and Noa pull up, he ran over to them and, in a loud whisper, said, "Wow, I can't believe you really got it! It's really… it's really…"

"Just say it. It's a piece of crap," Seto snarked, even as he accepted the keys from the salesman, who squeaked out a thanks before heading off to a coworker's car waiting by the security booth.

Mokuba tried to think of a more diplomatic way of wording it. "Well, it's… _different_ from how I imagined." He shrugged. "I dunno, I thought the description said it was in 'excellent original condition' or something."

"Considering how old it is, I think this is about as 'excellent' as it gets. But it'll look a lot better once I get it fixed up!" Noa insisted, though in the back of his mind, he too was thinking "clunker." Maybe he'd been too hasty in his decision. Maybe he should've taken his time, looked around a little longer… but he had really wanted a car NOW instead of later because he'd already planned on getting some bodywork done and knew that it'd take time. And with Mokuba's car already on order, time was even more of an issue. It'd suck if Mokuba was stuck driving him around come July!

"Yeah, I guess…" Mokuba started to say, but then he caught the look on his boyfriend's face. Noa had the sort of half hesitant, slightly panicked look that he got whenever he was feeling uncertain about a decision he'd made. But Mokuba didn't want Noa to think he disapproved of his car choice, because he didn't… not really. He'd just thought the car would be in better condition, that was all. "Actually… you're absolutely right. I'm just getting distracted by the minor stuff, which we were going to get fixed anyhow. I know it won't look anything like this once you're done. And Seto wouldn't have agreed to get it if it were a hopeless case, right Nii-sama?"

Noa and Mokuba both looked over at Seto and got a grunt in response. At least it was an affirmative grunt. It made Noa feel a bit better about the whole thing.

Mokuba was still looking the car over. It was definitely going to be a project. Not nearly as big or as earth-shattering as their MMORPG, but still important… and personal. "So then… what do we work on first?"

* * *

"Wow, Kaiba's kinda a cheapskate, eh?"

That was Jou's opening remark when he first laid eyes upon the Thing a few days after Noa had gotten it. Yami had asked Honda to come over and take a look at it since he had started working at the body shop that had repainted the ex-spirit's Porsche, and Malik and Jou had ended up tagging along.

"Cheapskate?" Malik shook his head. He could think of a lot of words that'd describe Seto Kaiba, but 'cheapskate' wasn't one of them. It was probably a good thing it was only the three of them in the garage at the moment if Jou was going to be flapping his lips. Yami had disappeared, presumably to welcome Seto home, and Noa was supposed to come out to fill them in on what exactly he envisioned for his car, but he hadn't made it down yet.

Honda looked up from his examination of the rear-mounted engine and scratched his head. Yami had mentioned something about replacing the engine, but that was going to be difficult since the trunk could only hold so much… Maybe they'd have to consider moving it to the front, but he'd have to ask his coworkers about that since it wasn't his area of expertise. "It's not that bad. It's a pretty cool car. I mean, when I was 16, I would've loved to have this."

"Yeah, but Noa's no regular kid. So I guess I was expectin' something… newer. Fancier." Jou shrugged. Maybe Seto thought his brothers would end up trashing their first cars or something. "Wonder what Mokuba's getting?"

"A Tesla Roadster," Noa responded as he stepped into the garage. "Hi guys. Thanks for coming over."

Malik let out a low whistle. "DANG… nice! Lucky kid!" Motorcycles would always be his main interest, but he'd been learning a lot more about cars since he planned on applying for a job at Honda's shop. So he knew just how fortunate Mokuba was to be getting a car like that. Maybe he'd even let them poke at the engine once it arrived.

Jou frowned at Malik, then turned to Noa. "Mokuba's getting some fancy ride, and you got stuck with this?

"What do you mean?" Noa asked, a slight growl roughing up his voice.

The brown-eyed blonde didn't seem notice the warning. "Kinda mean for Kaiba to get you some beat up old thing when Mokuba's gettin' a shiny new sportscar," he blurted out, capping it with a laugh, as if that'd soften the impact of his words.

Noa just stared at Jou in disbelief for a split second. He couldn't believe… was that what he really thought? That Seto had snubbed him deliberately? That he wasn't smart enough to notice, or proud enough to care about being "shortchanged" either? "What's that supposed to mean? This is the car I wanted! It's exactly what I asked for! And even if what you're assuming is true, which it's NOT, what business of yours is it anyhow? This isn't your car. And it's not like yours is anything to brag about either!"

Jounouichi flinched a little. He had automatically assumed Seto was favoring Mokuba, and had thought it unfair… It hadn't occurred to him that Noa would've wanted something other than a fancy sportscar, considering that money was no object.

A faint smile slowly spread across Jou's face. "Nah, sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I was makin' assumptions I shouldn't have." He straightened up a little, focusing on something over Noa's shoulder. "Yer right; it ain't really my business, 'specially since I invited myself over in the first place."

"That's the problem when you feed stray dogs; they'll keep on coming back," Seto commented, causing the teen to start and look over his shoulder. It appeared that the elder Kaiba had just gotten home. He still had his briefcase in his hand.

"Oh, shut up. I apologized already, you jerk," Jou muttered.

Seto smirked. Of course he'd heard Jou's comments, but he'd also caught Noa's reprimand, so he was satisfied in letting the matter drop. He turned to Honda instead. "So is this trash heap a beyond hope or what?"

"Not at all… at least, I don't think so." Hearing Seto's sigh, the shorter brunette quickly explained, "What I mean is, if the engine's coming out anyways, then the condition of it doesn't matter. That said, it didn't look that bad to me, and you said it runs, right?" He waited for a nod, then continued. "As far as the frame, well… it's pretty solid still. There's relatively little rust and the dents would be easy to bang out. We could strip and paint it without having to fabricate much if that's all you want."

Seto absorbed the information, then shrugged. "It wasn't a total ripoff then, is what you're saying." He looked back over at Noa. "Well, it's your car, so you'll need to decide on what you want to have done."

"You don't want me to consult with you?"

"You can if you want. But I know you can handle this. And those guys," and the young CEO tossed his head at Honda, "did a good job on Yami's car."

Noa nodded. Well, that was true. If he could handle being Vice President of Kaiba Corp., getting a car fixed up was no sweat.

Satisfied with Noa's response, Seto simply added, "Yami says dinner will be ready in about ten minutes," before walking off.

Once Seto was gone, Malik looked back over at the car, considered what both Seto and Honda had said, and was suddenly struck by a great idea. "Or… you could let us do some of the work right here…"

Noa glanced over. "Huh?"

"The three of us I mean. The paint and finishing would have to be done at the shop, and the upholstery as well, but the actual mechanical stuff… we should be able to handle that ourselves, right Honda?"

"Hmm, don't see why not…"

"It might be fun… Definitely educational." The Egyptian grinned wolfishly. He was thinking less about the volunteering aspect of it and more of how it'd help him land a job. "And I have a bit of free time on my hands since Ryou's been studying for his LSAT."

Honda thought it over a little more, then seconded the idea before adding one of his own. "I'd be willing to pitch in for sure. And if you want, to make things go faster, I could take your car home from work with me, but that's your call. Some of the mechanics do that if they're trying to diagnose a particular problem, but in this case, it'd let us get extra work done. But I won't be offended if you don't want to lend it out, like if you're going to need it for driving practice or whatever and wanna wait until later to take it in and get everything done at once."

"Heh, you just want the chance to drive it around yourself," Malik said with a laugh.

"And you just want to poke around in the engine," Honda retorted. Malik didn't even try to deny it, simply shrugging it off.

Noa didn't care what their motives were. Actually, it was almost better that they had their reasons for volunteering, because that'd keep them interested in the project and that interest could push them to do a better job on it. "Nah, I don't really want to let it just sit here. And we have other cars I can practice with. So you might as well take it with you. Just remember to keep me in the loop on things, okay? And don't take it out for joyrides."

"I won't! I take my work seriously," Honda assured him.

"So how 'bout it Jounouichi? You in?" Malik asked.

"Yeah, I'll help out too, but I dunno how much I'll be available between work and class. Plus Mai's been feeling a bit off lately. Maybe it's a virus or something, I have no clue…" He sighed. "But that said, I better get going… I wanna make sure she's okay."

Noa nodded. Jou was right; it was about time to wrap things up. "Yeah… and thanks guys. Really."

Honda just grinned. "Don't mention it – that's what friends are for!"

* * *

Otogi and Honda had shown up the next day to take possession of the Thing, and as promised, Honda made sure to contact Noa on each step of the process after that. Over the next several weeks the paint got sandblasted off, the seats were removed and reupholstered, a newer, more powerful engine was located to replace the old one, and so on and so forth. With so much to be done it was taking a little longer than the usual renovation. But whenever the car was driveable – and Honda considered having no doors, no windshield and no backseat "driveable" – he'd bring it over to the mansion so they could work on it during the weekends.

Noa had originally told himself that he wouldn't get physically involved, even though he couldn't resist wandering out to see how everything was going. After all, it was his car – and his anal retentive big brother's garage – so of course he was going to oversee things. But he'd never been the type of kid who wanted to get dirty, who wanted to get his hands greasy on car parts, having been brought up to think that it was someone else's job.

It was a little funny then, that he and Mokuba were now hanging out in the garage in old jeans and t-shirts spotted with oil. They'd been messing around with the floor panels, trying to decide if they needed to be replaced or not, and fiddling with the heater and some of the wiring, and were now kicking back, having gotten about as much done as they'd planned for the day.

"Man, I still can't believe she's pregnant…" Jou said as he helped himself to more chips from the small spread of snacks and drinks Yami had set out for them. "I mean, it's not that it's a bad thing or anythin', it's just… it still doesn't feel real, ya know?"

"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later since uh… you guys weren't doing anything to prevent it, right?" Honda asked. They'd been having the same conversation over and over the last few weeks, ever since they found out. But that was to be expected. It was a big deal; the first baby due within their circle of friends. "And you were planning to start a family eventually."

"Yeah, but…" Jounouichi sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "I know, I know… you're right. But it's jus' so much to think about. Doctor's appointments and baby furniture and we gotta think about moving to a new apartment or somethin' too. Hell, I don't even know how to change a diaper!" He ran his fingers through messy blonde hair. "I wanna be a good dad. But I don't know… I just don't wanna end up like my old man."

"Don't worry, I'll kick the crap out of you if you do," Honda assured him.

"Gee, thanks man."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

Jou just smiled.

_Friends…_ Honda had said something similar back when they first got started on this crazy endeavor. Actually, that was one of the unexpected side benefits of fixing up the Thing. Noa hadn't really thought about it before, but there'd been so much he hadn't known about their friends. Sure, they got together every Friday night, but they spent most of that time talking about how their week went, or what was on TV… No one really wanted to spend that time discussing more serious matters because they were there to have fun. And Noa, who'd grown up with every privilege in the world except for having friends, had never realized just how complex friendship was.

Like Malik… yes, Noa had known the Egyptian liked loud rock music and motorcycles, and that his sister Ishizu was sort of seeing an archaeology professor named Karim Hassan. But he hadn't known that Malik and Bakura's own relationship was on shaky ground, and that that had been one of the motivators behind his employment search. Bakura's oft-absent father was finally deciding to cut him off and Bakura was stressed, worrying about how he'd pay for law school. He and Malik were still officially together at the moment, but more as roommates rather than boyfriends.

And then there was Honda, who was more than happy to babble about how big his nephew was getting, and how he needed just one more class to complete his associate's, and how he hoped to open a custom bike shop someday. But unlike Malik, he remained as tightlipped as ever about the nature of his relationship with Otogi and Shizuka, even though the two of them were renting rooms in Otogi's house. Noa couldn't resist pestering him about it at first, but finally stopped after the brunette had asked, "Don't you have any secrets you want to keep?" in a tone that made it sound like he knew there was more going on between Noa and Mokuba than they were willing to admit.

Considering how badly it had gone before, when they'd tried to hide the truth from Seto… perhaps they needed to rethink how they were handling their relationship. Maybe one day it'd be okay to reveal it to the others. Noa had never thought he'd be willing to risk it, because even if he himself didn't care about their friends – and he had to admit, he did – he knew Mokuba cared. But now he was starting to think… maybe it wasn't impossible. Maybe they'd all remain friends, even if they knew. After all, even if Honda was with Shizuka or Otogi, or both, did that really change anything? He was still the same person he'd always been.

Now that he thought about it, that was why he and Mokuba didn't really have many close friends their own age. They were friendly with their classmates, considered popular even, but he'd always felt there was a sort of distance between them too. Noa had attributed that to the fact that mentally, he was older than the other students, and smarter to boot. But perhaps that was only part of it. After all, high school kids were extremely judgmental… and at times he almost felt trapped by the peer pressure, having to keep up appearances because his schoolmates expected him to be a certain way.

At least hanging around Yugi-tachi gave him the freedom to be himself, for the most part. They'd seen him at his worst and yet accepted him despite that. So it stood to reason that they wouldn't reject him for something as "minor" as being in love with Mokuba, right?

An obnoxiously cheerful ditty dragged Noa out of his musings, and he raised his head to see Mokuba assessing him while Jou picked up the call on his cellphone. Noa quickly gave his boyfriend a small smile and a nod, keeping the motion too slight for anyone else to catch.

"What? More graham crackers? That's it? That's all you want?" Jou was saying. He must've been talking to Mai. "Hm, let me check…" He pulled the phone away from his mouth a moment and asked the assembled group, "We're done for the day right?"

"Yup. Go home and take care of your better half," Honda told him. He slugged down the rest of his soda, pausing a moment to stare at the empty can. "I guess I better head on out too." He picked up the keys to the Thing, giving them a light toss before pocketing them. "See ya!"

"I wonder if I should invite myself to dinner…" Malik laughed as Mokuba gave him a questioning glance. "Nah, I'm kidding. I'm out of here too. Going to take Ryou to dinner; it's the only break he'll take from his studying."

"We'll see everyone on Friday then!" Noa gave a quick wave goodbye as the others departed, then accompanied Mokuba back into the house. It really had been comfortable spending time with the guys like that. Hanging out, enjoying the time they spent together and the things they had in common, then going their separate ways, knowing full well they'd be doing it all again soon enough.

"I wouldn't want to do it all the time, but working on cars isn't too bad. Some parts of it at least," Mokuba admitted as they went upstairs to change before dinner.

"Yeah. I don't like getting all that grease on me though."

"Me neither. But at least it's coming along nicely. I'm almost jealous." Mokuba chuckled at that, realizing how weird it sounded, but it was the truth. Even though he was getting a brand new sportscar, one so desirable that there was a waiting list for it, Noa's car was far more unique and special, the culmination of everyone's efforts. "I bet even Nii-sama will like when it's all finished."

Noa wasn't quite as convinced of that – Seto's standards for everything being so high – but certainly he'd have less to complain about once all was said and done. "Well, we'll see…"

* * *

In the end, Noa chose to forgo a true restoration and opted instead to upgrade and customize the hell out of the vehicle, gutting it completely and replacing everything from floorboards to the fuel system to the wheels and electrical wiring.

Newly repainted and rebuilt, the car looked as good as it ever would, though Seto couldn't help but think of the paint job as putting pearls on swine, not that pearls came in such garish shades. The Thing was now a retina searing neon yellow-green shade trimmed out with an equally bold aqua around the wheel guards, fenders and windshield. A bit of white and banana yellow paint highlighted the molded "stripes" on the doors and hood, echoing the new yellow convertible top and white leather upholstery with aqua piping. The car now demanded attention like a shrieking toddler.

"Are we sure Noa's not colorblind?" Seto couldn't resist asking Yami in a low voice as Noa gleefully accepted the keys from Honda.

The ex-spirit's response was a light punch to the taller man's shoulder. Even though neons weren't really to his taste, he thought the color scheme looked good, if a bit loud… But then again, his own car threw off a whole rainbow of colors in the sunlight, so he had no right to complain. And the important thing was, it looked like Noa really loved it.

"You guys really did a great job," Yami told Malik and Honda. He'd have to call Jou later and thank him as well, but it was understandable that he couldn't come by since he had new responsibilities now.

"Of course! I told ya, we know what we're doing," Honda bragged. But part of him felt a little sad to see the project end. Spending so much time on the Thing, it'd become his baby too, in a way.

"I guess I'll forgive the fact you missed my birthday by two days," Noa said, but he wasn't upset. He was way too excited for that. Not only had he gotten his driver's license the day before, but now his car was ready too, looking like it had just rolled off a showroom floor. He needed to take pictures later, so he could email them to Rebecca and Leon, who'd been eager to see it too. "I can hardly wait to take it for a spin! And to show it off at school! I wonder how much faster it can go now…"

Seto just gave him a wave. He wasn't going to rein him in, not at a moment like this. "Go on, have fun. Just get back at a reasonable time, okay?"

Noa's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"I'm going too, okay Nii-sama?" Mokuba quickly added, practically bouncing where he stood, like a kangaroo.

Seto nodded, but couldn't resist tacking on, "And don't drive like me."

Yami snickered. Noa snorted, but inclined his head slightly to indicate that he'd heard him. Not that he had needed the warning. The green-haired teen was sensible enough to realize that the worst possible thing he could do with his newest privilege was to bring home a speeding ticket the first time out.

The four men watched as Noa and Mokuba busied themselves taking down the top and removing the back windows before Noa finally started the car up with a grin. Then, still grinning, he and Mokuba drove off… at a rather sedate, un-Seto-like speed.

"Why do I suddenly feel a little older now?" Seto muttered when the Thing finally disappeared through the gates. He said it so quietly that only Yami heard him, so the shorter duelist's response was equally low-key… an arm around his waist, a cheek rubbing against his shoulder, a soft sigh. Yami understood of course… he sort of felt that way too.

"I bet they'll be out riding around all night," Malik said, his voice cutting into the sudden silence that had settled around the quartet.

"Probably," Yami agreed. He turned to look at his friends, then said, "Come on, I'll treat you guys to dinner somewhere; how's that sound?"

"I'm all for that!" Honda enthused.

Malik stretched a little. "Sounds great. How about the Downtown Grill then? And do you mind if Ryou comes with?"

"Not at all. Can one of you give Jou and Mai a call too, and see if they're up for joining us?" Yami asked.

"Yeah, no prob," Honda responded.

_Seto?_

The young billionaire considered it. He supposed there was no point in sitting around, staring at an empty driveway, wondering when the teens had gone from following at his heels to flying on wings of their own. He wasn't one to cling to nostalgia anyway. But still, there was a touch of pensiveness in his voice as he said, "Yeah, let's go."

Yami gave him a slight smile and a gentle squeeze of the hand, then told the other two, "We'll meet you guys at the restaurant then."

Malik looked like he wanted to ask the obvious, but he refrained. Seto clearly wasn't in the mood to be messed with. He hoped he'd remember that later when the pair showed up to the restaurant 15 or 20 minutes later than expected. "Okay. Honda, need a lift?"

Considering he'd arrived in the Thing, the answer was obvious. "'Course." Good thing Malik's motorcycle seated two easily, and that he rode around with a spare helmet.

Yami and Seto watched as their friends got on the bike and took off down the driveway as well, then the former Pharaoh silently headed for the garage with Seto following close behind. Yami figured he ought to drive that evening, but first, he had a little something else in mind, and with the rebuild finished, the garage was as good a place as any for him to remind Seto why it wasn't bad to have his brothers out of the house every once in a while…

* * *

Author's Notes:  
- While this series is about the Kaiba boys growing up, the rest of the gang is growing up and moving on with their lives as well, and that's something I wanted to keep in mind even though the emphasis isn't on "the gang."  
- So I finally made up my mind; Mai's pregnant. Way back when, I couldn't decide if I wanted her and Jou to have kids by the end of the story, but as things developed it became more and more plausible in my mind. Because one of the things that makes them work as a couple for me is that they both seem to be searching for "family" - Jou's parents are divorced; he seems to have almost no contact with his mother and his father's obviously set a poor example for him... and it seems like Mai either has no family or has no contact with them. So I think they would both love to have the idealized family that they didn't have growing up.


	3. The BRat Pack

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after chapter 2, "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 21, Noa is 16, Mokuba is 15.

* * *

**The (B)Rat Pack**

**Sixteen (Going on Seventeen) Series**

* * *

"Seems they don't want to come out right now," Noa announced, shrugging as he withdrew his hand from the cage.

"I guess I can't blame them for being a bit shy. This is a pretty big change for them," Mokuba said, his voice softer than usual to keep from frightening the little critters any further.

They both straightened up, brushing off bits of bedding from their hands and knees. It was amazing how much of the stuff ended up outside the spacious cage in the corner of what would soon be Noa's bedroom. But for the time being, the room's only occupants were four male rats: two pink-eyed whites, Blinky and Pinky, a blue named Inky, and Clyde, a fawn.

Mokuba and Noa hadn't planned on getting pet rats. Certainly they wouldn't have gone to a store looking to acquire some. But like many of their classmates, they had enjoyed having a variety of "mascots" in their science classes, and when they found out that any unclaimed offspring of the science department's rats were destined to become snake food, they and several other students were quick to lay claim to the last pups of the year.

At first, they hadn't considered that it'd be a problem. After all, the rats were small and quiet… it wasn't like they were bringing home a herd of elephants. But when they'd gotten back to the mansion – rat cage and all – the reception had been less than enthusiastic.

More precisely, Seto's opening comment had been, "Snakes have to eat too you know," while Yami had piped in with, "Didn't you guys once tell me you were afraid of rats?"

"We never said that," Noa had scoffed.

"Oh yes you did… you told me your room was infested with giant rats," Yami had replied.

Maybe they _had_ said something like that before, but that had been an excuse to help Yami out through a really rocky time in his relationship with Seto, so surely he couldn't be mad about that, right? "That… well, we didn't mean that. We're not afraid of rats!" Mokuba had quickly responded.

"You won't even know they're here! And we'll take care of feeding them and cleaning after them and everything," Noa had added.

Yami had given them a smile. He'd just been kidding around. He hadn't any objections himself. Pets were pets. That said, it hadn't ultimately been his decision to make. "Well, Seto?"

The elder Kaiba had sighed when his brothers turned their attention back to him. "Why would you want to keep beady eyed, useless vermin anyhow?"

"They're not!" Noa had protested. "Well, I mean, they're beady eyed… and maybe they don't do much. But do they have to _do_ something?"

"Besides, if we didn't take them, who would?" Mokuba had quickly chimed in, ignoring the fact that maybe another student would've spoken up if they hadn't. "All their littermates got claimed, but these guys… Just 'cause the school can't keep them through the summer doesn't mean they deserve to be fed to snakes!"

Seto had rolled his eyes even as he'd cursed himself for being a sucker for sob stories about unwanted rat brothers in need of a home.

But in the end, that had been all the argument Mokuba had needed. After that, Seto had given them the go ahead with the expected warnings, like, "Remember to clean the cage… I better not smell anything!" and "Don't let them wander around the house… If I see one running loose, it's dead meat!"

"Thanks Nii-sama!" they had chorused before happily running off to get their new pets situated.

So far things had gone well. The last several days had passed without incident. Seto pretty much had forgotten the rats were even there. Of course, part of that was because the rats were still a bit hesitant to come out. But that didn't mean the teens had given up on trying to get their pets to interact with them. Even rats weren't immune to lure of Yami's cooking.

Noa walked over to his dresser and picked up the little dish sitting on top, then returned to the cage. They'd saved some carrots and chicken from dinner that evening, which had been a creamy chicken and vegetable stew. "They should like this, I think." Indeed, twitching noses were beginning to emerge from beneath the blanket. "Just like magic, huh?"

Mokuba smiled as one by one, rats appeared. Noa opened the cage door and held the dish out to see if there were any takers. One of the white rats – they still had problems telling Blinky and Pinky apart – hopped up on the edge of the doorway and leaned out to examine the tidbits.

"Try and see if he'll take it from your hand," Mokuba suggested, and Noa did just that. The lone brave rat snatched the proffered bit of carrot, spun around, and triumphantly trotted away to eat in the corner of the cage while his three siblings watched, then they too decided it was safe enough to grab some grub. They still weren't eager to come out, but did stick their heads out just far enough to attack the delicacies on the plate in a greedy feeding frenzy.

"Cool, Blinky's getting bolder at least." Or was that Pinky? Noa shrugged to himself and pulled out the already empty dish, sending rats scattering in all directions.

"You can tell them apart?" Mokuba asked. Other than a minor difference in size, and the shading of their eyes, they really did look like mirror images.

"Not really, but I… Oh shit!" Noa yelped as a white rat suddenly made a break for it. He tried closing his hand around it but the little guy was quicker, hopping over the obstacle and bolting for the nearest wall. "Moku…"

"It's okay, it's okay," Mokuba said, his voice softening as he approached the wary creature. The rat hunkered down and squeaked at him. Mokuba made a slight motion with his hand indicating Noa should approach from behind to block that route of escape, but otherwise kept his movements slow and spare. "Try and grab him," he mouthed at his boyfriend as they closed in.

In seconds the rat was scooped up and lifted into the air, accompanied by twin sighs of relief.

"You know, this is for you own good," the black haired teen admonished the critter while Noa pat it on the head with a fingertip before returning it to the cage. "Because believe me, if Nii-sama ever saw you… well, it'd probably be the last moments of your life."

"Maybe the last moments of our lives too," Noa joked.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, but he too was relieved they'd thwarted the escape attempt…

* * *

Or at least, that's what they'd thought. Because while the pair had been distracted by Blinky, aka white rat number one, his lookalike Pinky had seen the light of freedom and made his own mad dash for it. In all the commotion he had slipped out unnoticed and, seeing the strange, wide expanse of world before him, begun exploring, his wanderings taking him further and further away from the cage.

Along the wall he went, through a human sized door, and then, with hesitant little footfalls, he was out into the hallway. Curious and yet confused, he began running, instinct taking over, hugging the walls as he darted forth in quick bursts, only pausing to sniff the air, to listen for the sound of danger.

Hearing nothing, Pinky continued forth, going wherever the wall would take him.

* * *

It's hard to place blame on the teens for the escape when rats are designed for maximum escape efficiency with their wedge shaped heads, scurrying feet, and flexible bodies. Knowing that, the experienced rat owner knows to do a headcount before walking away from a cage. But Mokuba and Noa were new to the whole rodent business and so they didn't notice until three or four hours later that their quartet of caged rats had become a trio.

"Oh shiiit…" Noa gasped when he realized that only one white rat was staring back at him from the cage. He even stuck his hand in to make sure the other onewasn't just hiding somewhere, but there were only three rats, no matter how many times he counted.

Noa's mind raced to process what had happened. The last time they'd checked, there had been four rats, and… _Shit, did it get out then? But that was hours ago! _He looked about the room, hoping against hope that the rat had just hung around, awaiting recapture, but Pinky was long gone. Noa quickly put in the nightly food bowl, shut the cage door and ran back to his current bedroom. "Mokuba!!"

"What?" the black-haired teen yelled back from the bathroom.

"We're missing a rat!" Noa hissed in a low voice. He was almost afraid to say it too loud, lest Seto could hear through walls.

Mokuba stuck his head into the room, towel in hand. His hair was still wet from the shower. "Oh – you couldn't catch it? Damn, they're quick! We better…"

"No, I mean, it's _gone_ gone. It must've escaped when we were trying to catch the other one earlier."

Mokuba stared at his boyfriend a long moment, then he softly mumbled, "Oh crap... We're so dead if we don't find it!"

"No duh. Now if I were a rat, where would I…" Noa shook his head. He could imagine a hundred and one places a rat would want to hide, and then some. He took another look at Mokuba, and sighed. "Get dressed and come help me."

* * *

Down in the bedroom at the end of the hallway, Seto and Yami had already finished getting ready for bed, but sleeping was the last thing on their minds. Oh, they were in bed, certainly, but at the moment it was all about entertainment, not rest. More precisely, Yami had bound his taller lover to the headboard by his wrists, and was now working to tie one leg up to the bedpost as well.

Seto tried his best to hold still, but it wasn't in his nature to submit so easily, not even to Yami. Still, he thought he was doing pretty well, especially considering how aroused he already was. He shut his eyes momentarily so that he couldn't see the grin on Yami's face, the glint in his eyes, then when even that was too tempting, he turned his head to the side, hoping the sight of nothing but a bland wall would reduce the throbbing in his groin. It might've, but Yami's deep chuckle was enough to make his dick jump. He grit his teeth a little and shut his eyes again. _Damn…_

Then, he got the strangest feeling he was being watched by someone, or _something_, other than Yami. Maybe it was just paranoia, but then again…

The brunette opened one eye and was greeted by a pair of red… reddish-pink ones in return. Tiny, beady, not-quite-crimson eyes, set above twitching whiskers. _What the fu…?_

There was no way. There was no way there was a rat sitting on his bed. A rat, watching Yami tie him up...

Seto squeezed his eyes shut, hard. _I'm crazy. I'm hallucinating. When I open them, there better be nothing there, or something's going to die._ Reluctantly, he opened them again, both of them, and… was relieved to see there was nothing there. Nothing at all. He sighed.

"Hmm?" Yami leaned down to purr into his ear.

"You must be cutting off my circulation," the young CEO muttered.

Yami quickly checked the ropes in concern. They were snug, but didn't seem overly taut. "Are they too tight?" he asked, all humor gone.

"No. I don't know. Maybe I've been working too much."

Yami frowned a little. Seto wasn't making much sense. "Are you sure you're okay? I can stop."

Seto sighed again. "No, don't. Just… I guess I'm tired. I'm seeing things. Rats, specifically."

"Rats?" Yami glanced around, wondering if possibly… _Nah, no way. How would it have even gotten in here? _He leaned forward and kissed his boyfriend tenderly. "Well good thing you can just sit back and relax while I do all the work," he half joked. But he meant what he said. If Seto really was stressed about something, or even just tired, then he figured a little… enjoyable activity could only help him unwind.

Seto responded with what Yami identified as an agreeable grunt.

It was easy enough to forget about rats, to forget about all the little annoying things that had gone wrong that day, once Yami resumed teasing him, restraining him. His hands were like magic in that regard; they had to power to soothe, to titillate, to distract. Following Yami's advice Seto just relaxed, letting his body respond how it wanted, letting Yami do whatever he wanted.

He'd forgotten all about his hallucination until he felt something barely brush by his arm. At first he dismissed it as Yami just playing with a tickler or something, but then he realized Yami wasn't anywhere even close to his arm. Brow furrowed, he looked over, but there was nothing there. And Yami was leaning over the side of the bed, picking something out of the underbed drawers.

_Great, I really am crazy,_ he thought, moments before that same soft something slid by his ribcage. "Uh…?"

The only warning he got for what happened next was the momentary annoyance of teeny tiny claws on his skin, and then…

"OW! FUUUCK!!!…" Seto screamed as the wayward rat bit him squarely on the nipple. He reflexively tried to grab the rat, murder on his mind, but it must've been Pinky's lucky day – the source of his potential demise was still tied down.

Yami immediately jerked his head up, even as he felt a phantom pain twinge on his own chest. "What!? Wh…"

"RAT!" Seto yelled, helplessly kicking his one unrestrained leg in the air even as Yami yelped, "Rat?!!"

"Grab it! Get rid of it! KILL IT!" Seto ordered, twisting around frantically. His nipple was stinging. _Fucking thing better not have rabies!!_

Yami began trying to grab the rat now that he too had spotted it, but it turned out to be a lot trickier than anticipated. The panicked rat was scrambling around on the bed, wanting nothing but escape from the loud, flailing humans, but everywhere it looked, there were hands and limbs blocking its way. Yami finally managed to cup his hands around it, but somehow the rat squirted out between his fingers.

_Damn it! _It shouldn't have gotten away, but he'd been afraid to squeeze too tightly lest he accidentally injure or kill the thing. After all, despite Seto's threats, this was still Mokuba and Noa's pet…

"MOKUBA!! NOA!!" Seto howled at the top of his lungs.

Yami let loose a low growl. There was no way he was going to catch it any time soon without some help. His yells joined Seto's. The two of them were loud enough to be clearly heard all the way down the hallway, to where Noa and Mokuba had been searching. The teens threw each other wary glances, then sprinted for their guardians' bedroom suite.

They didn't even have the chance to comment on the fact that Seto was tied down on the bed, naked. He was still hollering their names, in conjunction with words like "Kill!" and "Vermin!"

Yami climbed off the bed, captured rat now in hand. By some minor miracle he'd managed to grab the thing by its tail moments before the teens burst into the room. Not having a clue how to handle it and having no time to get covered up either, he quickly dumped the struggling rodent into Noa's hands. "Here," he said, sounding surprisingly calm, although his face was red from a combination of anger, embarrassment and frustration.

"Um… Thanks for not killing him?" Mokuba mumbled, staring at the floor as Noa clutched Pinky tightly. The rat squeaked. "I swear to God, it won't happen again."

"Yeah," Yami said flatly as he began shooing them out of the room. Seto's blood pressure had to be at an all-time high. The ex-spirit knew he was going to have his work cut out for him this evening.

Mokuba and Noa could still hear Seto yelling as they left the master suite, the door slamming shut behind them. But Mokuba couldn't blame the older couple for being mad. As far as he could figure out from all of Seto's ranting, Pinky had not only climbed onto the bed, but had bitten him too! Frankly, he was amazed that Pinky had survived the encounter… but maybe Mind Crushing didn't work on little rat brains?

"Maybe Nii-sama will kill us instead," Noa finally said when they got back to his soon-to-be-bedroom and returned the rat to his cage. Relieved little Pinky was greeted by his siblings as he stopped by the food dish for a piece of pasta before hopping back onto his beloved hammock. The green-haired teen double-checked that all the rats were accounted for before slowly closing the cage door once again.

"Maybe," Mokuba sullenly replied. He almost felt like he'd let Seto down by letting Pinky escape.

Seeing the look on his boyfriend's face, Noa quickly gave him a sideways hug. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. He'll get over it. He'll probably forget about it by the time that uh, Yami's done…" he added.

"I just don't want him to think we're irresponsible!"

"We're not! We'll just… have to be a little more careful in the future. Make sure the rats stay where they're supposed to." Then Noa suddenly laughed. "You realize Seto would think this was funny if the rat had bitten someone else, since he seems to have a thing for animals that bite."

"Not funny…"

"… But it's true!"

Visions of Kuriboh chasing down unsuspecting deliverymen danced through Mokuba' mind. He shrugged. Maybe it was true, but he wasn't going to admit to it.

"And to think, we were complaining that they were too shy earlier," Noa scoffed. "It's like Pinky had to prove us wrong."

"Pinky? Wasn't that Blinky?" Mokuba asked.

"Was it?"

"Iono."

Both teens looked back over at the cage, at the rats inside. Maybe they still couldn't identify the escapee with one hundred percent certainty. Maybe they'd never know for sure. But the important thing was… they sure were glad to see two white rats in there, not just one. And considering how happy the rats seemed to be, all piled atop one another, eating, they were sure it was glad to be home too.

* * *

Author's Notes:  
- This story is dedicated to my own tiny ninjas in rat clothing.  
- Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde are named after the ghosts in Pac-Man. Blinky is the red ghost in the game. Pinky is the pink ghost, Inky the cyan ghost, and Clyde the orange one.  
- Rat behavior notes. 1) Rats really are escape artists. A small rat can fit through a space the size of a nickel. They can also run quite fast considering their size and climb like champs. 1A) However, Pinky wandering all the way to Seto's bedroom is unlikely. In my experience, escaped rats don't venture too far away from their home. 2) And yes, they will nip at anything they consider edible. I've never been bitten, but others have been… less fortunate : o  
- Re: Yami saying the boys were once afraid of rats. In "Aftershocks," chapter 9, Mokuba and Noa made up a story that they saw a giant rat in their room as an excuse to stay in Yami's room for the night, when he and Seto had temporarily broken up.  
- Re: Noa's bedroom. This was mentioned in "Slippery When Wet," but as that that story chronologically comes after this one, I'll explain it here as well, with this passage: "It was all for show, but it had become a necessary illusion to maintain since it was starting to look suspicious that at 16, the teens had been sharing a single bedroom when they had a whole mansion to work with…"


	4. At the Height of the Growing Season

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after chapter 3, "The (B)Rat Pack" but before the oneshot "Slippery When Wet."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 21, Noa and Mokuba are 16.

**

* * *

At the Height of the Growing Season**

**Sixteen (Going on Seventeen) Series**

* * *

Sometimes Mokuba felt more like an administrative assistant than Vice President. Despite his age, he was capable – very capable – but half of the employees at Kaiba Corp. seemed to forget that on a regular basis. It was frustrating. He'd been at the helm of KC on and off since he was ten. So why'd they keep thinking he was just an ordinary kid?

He and Seto had just finished wrapping up a meeting that hadn't gone as planned. Apparently the Web Development team had taken exception to the fact that they had to go through Yami to get final approval on the layout and functionality of the Legends of Duel Monsters web portal, and had become quite vocal about it. It had been the same old arguments – Yami wasn't an employee, he didn't have experience, how could he possibly tell them what to do, blah blah blah – and Mokuba had been sick of it. He'd thought that every person in the entire damn company knew better by this point! But it wasn't until Seto had finally made an appearance that the stalemate was broken… or maybe it had been the way he'd thrown empty boxes onto the conference table to drive home the point that anyone complaining would be escorted out long before Yami's advice would be disregarded.

Mokuba could only shake his head from his vantage point behind Seto as the chastened Web Development team hastily picked up their things and scurried from the conference room. They reminded him of his pet rats during feeding time.

"Thanks. Sorry I had to drag you into this, Seto," Mokuba said when the room was finally empty.

The young CEO waved off the apology. "Is that all? No other meetings or anything?"

"No, that was it. The last one of the day," Mokuba sighed. It had been a long afternoon. Funny how a full day at Kaiba Corp. felt so much longer and more draining than a day at school, plus a few hours in the office. But since it was summer, there was no reason to not work full time, so he and Noa had both been putting in a good 40 hours a week as of late. It was convenient timing too… they were hoping to release their MMORPG by the start of the holiday season.

The corners of Seto's mouth lifted slightly. "For you maybe. But I think my last one will be quick… and if it's not, I'll make it quick because I want to get out of here on time."

Mokuba nodded. "I know." Yami was one hell of a magnet for Seto, that was for sure.

"Let's get going then," Seto said. He picked up a copy of the documents from the meeting for further review, tucked them under his arm, and began striding off quickly as Mokuba turned to follow.

The black-haired teen found it amazing that he still had to struggle to keep up with his brother. Amazing because he was now as tall as – no, taller than – the elder Kaiba, and his legs were just as long. But Seto had always seemed driven by some invisible force, one that was powerful enough to propel him forward like a jet. Not that Mokuba was a slacker, but he just didn't feel that same sense of urgency.

By the time Mokuba got to the elevators, Seto was already standing in one and holding the door open. Mokuba hurried in and as the doors slid closed, went to lean against the back wall for the duration of the trip…

Seto looked over. "Please stop slouching."

Mokuba didn't see why that mattered while they were riding in an elevator, but he didn't protest. He straightened himself up a little, glancing at his reflection in the mirrored doors in the process. He didn't think his posture had been all that bad, but next to Seto, he practically looked hunched over. He wondered if Seto's back ever hurt from standing so straight, with his shoulders back. If it did, he didn't complain, but that was par for the course.

And then there was the matter of their overall presentation… Mokuba rubbed his chin as he furtively studied himself. Like Seto, his cheeks and chin were naturally smooth… he rarely had to shave. But sometimes he wished that weren't the case. He didn't like that he still had a kid's face, with eyes that still seemed too wide. He didn't like that his hair wouldn't settle down. And while Seto always looked amazingly composed, somehow managing to stay wrinkle free even in a fitted silk dupioni suit, Mokuba felt a bit like an ugly duckling even though his clothes were carefully selected and just as well tailored. But his tie didn't seem to want to sit right, and his jacket felt like it was pulling, and…

"What's wrong?"

The teen quickly fixed a smile on his face and shook his head as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. He walked out, thinking his big brother would let the matter drop, but after they'd checked in with their respective secretaries, the elder Kaiba trailed him into his office instead of disappearing into his own.

"Mokuba, what's wrong?" Seto repeated in a low voice.

The black-haired teen sat down at his desk and picked up some papers, ducking down behind them. "It's nothing."

Seto stepped away for a moment, shut the door, then came right back to the other side of the desk. With a finger, he bent back the top of the papers in front of Mokuba's face and peered at him. "Why won't you tell me? Are you really that upset about that meeting? Or did I do something…"

"No, of course not!" exclaimed Mokuba. "It's just… it's just that it's stupid."

"It isn't, not if it's bothering you."

Mokuba put the papers down and looked up. Oddly, he felt more comfortable now that he was sitting and Seto was standing, leaning over the desk, towering over him as if he were eleven again. That made it easier to say, "I wish you were still taller than me, Nii-sama."

"Huh?" Seto blinked – he hadn't been expecting that. What was he supposed to say in response?

Mokuba sighed. "I remember telling Noa that I liked that I was getting taller, that it didn't bother me. But I guess I was wrong. It does bug me, a little."

Seto slowly straightened up, running a hand through his hair. "Well, from what I remember, Tou-san was pretty tall. So I guess it's in our genes. And you're a teenager now… you are growing up…"

"I know. But I don't feel grown up. And I don't look it either. Maybe that's why no one take me seriously."

"So you want to grow up faster, but shorter?" Seto asked, baffled.

"No! That's not… ugh, I'm not making any sense, am I?" He almost wanted to add, "It sucks being a teenager," but realized that Seto had never faced the sorts of issues that a typical sixteen-year-old faced. He'd never had the time or luxury to worry about his looks or his height, or to indulge in feeling sorry for himself. He'd been too busy trying to survive...

Mokuba paused to take a better look at Seto. There was another thing he hadn't considered before. More than being taller, he was heavier than Seto too. Not by much, but he was broader across his shoulders and chest. And he was a normal, healthy weight, whereas his brother couldn't seem to keep weight on. Seto was much more wiry, like a distance runner, his skin taut over hard muscle. Mokuba remembered that when he was younger – and significantly shorter – he'd occasionally borrow casual shirts from Yami. It had been easier than going out and getting new shirts every month or two. But he'd never borrowed anything from Seto's closet; by the time he'd gotten tall enough, he'd lost a lot of that teenage growth spurt skinniness as well, thanks to a steady diet of Yami's home cooking.

"I just can't help but think of how different things might've been… if it weren't for me," Mokuba said awkwardly. He didn't really know how to phrase it, how to avoid saying the wrong words, but he felt obligated to try and explain. "If you hadn't been looking out for me, I mean. Maybe you'd have gotten more sleep or… at least have taken better care of yourself."

Ahh, so it wasn't about their heights at all. "Haven't we been through this before? Raising you was my privilege, the best thing I've ever done. Where would I be now if it weren't for you?"

"But I feel like… like this extra inch should've been yours. Like I stole it from you."

"What?"

"Because you had to deal with Gozaburo! And… and then there was…" Mokuba took a deep breath. "If you hadn't been in that coma, who knows how much taller you would've gotten?"

Seto fell silent. Mokuba looked away. He'd known he was taking a risk with the subject matter, but he'd had to say it. It was something that had been bothering him for a long time now, and now that Seto was a little more open to talking about things… But maybe it'd been a bad idea. Or maybe his timing had been off. It didn't look like his brother was going to continue the conversation…

But then Seto exhaled and said, "There's no point in looking behind us at something like that anyhow. And it doesn't matter to me if you're a little taller. It doesn't change who you are, or how I see you," His voice grew soft. "You feel the same; if you weren't worrying about it so much, I think you'd come to that same conclusion."

Mokuba just stared at his brother for a minute. That last statement… Seto had almost sounded like Yami… not his voice, but in his words. It was just as familiar and comforting as seeing Seto standing tall before him. But his brother was right; he did feel the same. Just because he was now taller by a scant inch didn't mean he felt differently about Seto. He loved him, respected him, looked up to him… just not physically anymore.

"I wonder why it's been on my mind so much lately, when all I want to do is grow up as fast as possible, so I can help you out."

"Don't. Just…" The brunette shook his head in frustration. "You're already a big help. Don't ever think you're not. I couldn't do this without you. And you'll be grown up soon enough. Don't rush it."

"I know. It's okay, Nii-sama," Mokuba quickly reassured him. He was a little surprised that such a relatively innocuous comment had been the one that Seto reacted most strongly to, but now that he thought about it, he should've known better. As much as Seto tried to hide it, it was no secret that he was having a hard time dealing with the fact that his little brothers were growing up and spreading their wings.

Mokuba wished he'd chosen his words a little more carefully, but he couldn't take them back now. So he tried to explain. "I'm not trying to rush things, not like that." He took a deep breath. "I guess I just gotta try harder to stand up for myself so I don't have to call you over every time things aren't going my way."

"I don't mind…"

"I know. But I gotta do this for myself too, you know? I can't complain about people not taking me seriously and not do a thing about it myself."

Seto straightened up as a small smile spread across his face. "You really are growing up…" he said softly.

"I guess. But… it's at my own pace. One that I'm comfortable with." Mokuba paused a moment, then looked back up and nodded. "Thanks, Nii-sama, for listening. I feel better now."

"Mm. So… you still wish you were shorter than me?"

Mokuba laughed. The sound seem to relax his brother a little. "Well… yes and no. But I guess it doesn't really make a difference. You'll always seem taller."

"That's because I have good posture," Seto replied airily.

The black-haired teen smiled to himself. He thought it looked more like Seto had a stick up his ass, but at least nowadays he was only that stiff while at work. "I don't slouch that much, do I?"

"You do."

"Ugh." Slowly, the younger Kaiba rocked forward in his chair and straightened himself up until he was sitting straight and proper on his seat. "Better?"

"Yeah. But…" And Seto took a step back, cocking his head. "Now that I think about it, it doesn't really suit you."

Mokuba grinned and relaxed a little, though he didn't completely flop against the backrest either. Halfway seemed like a good compromise. He looked back up at Seto and caught his brother's nod. It looked like Seto approved as well. The young CEO had even relaxed a little in his own stance, though the shift was so slight that only those who knew him well would notice.

... They could've stayed there several more minutes, agreeably smiling at one another, but they were at work and things needed to get done.

"Well, you better get going. You have a meeting soon," Mokuba finally said, folding his hands on his desk and trying to sound as professional as possible even though he was sure he was still grinning goofily. Normally he hated to remind his brother of his duties, but this was just a more subtle way of letting Seto know… everything was okay once again.

Seto glanced at his watch. He still had 20 minutes to go – and true, he always liked being early, but the conference room was just down a few floors. But he understood what Mokuba was telling him. It was with pride that he said, "Ah, yes. Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Vice President."

* * *

Author's Notes:  
- Um... hmm. Nope, nada. Thanks nenya85 for beta as usual, and pointing out that a description like "padded" is better for Winnie the Pooh, not Mokuba : )


	5. The Popular Vote

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place between chapter 1 of Changes, "Skyview on the 69th" and chapter 2 of Changes, "Hitomi."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 21, Noa and Mokuba are 16.

* * *

**The Popular Vote**

**Sixteen (Going on Seventeen) Series**

* * *

"Mokuba, you always smell so good. Not like the other boys," the girl chirped as she brushed by the tall teen, her cheeks flushed.

"What the hell? Who was that?" Noa hissed in a low voice as the girl disappeared back into the crowd of students in the hallway. He furtively leaned over and took a quick sniff. _I don't smell anything different..._ "And what are you wearing?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "It's called deodorant. And I don't remember her name. Haruka, Haruna… something like that? Isn't she's in our Calculus class?"

Noa shrugged. She looked familiar, but he couldn't say he'd ever noticed her before… certainly not enough to put a name with the face.

They'd always joked about there being a Mokuba Fan Club at their school, but it turned out that truth was stranger than fiction. How else could they explain the existence of "Mokuba and Noa Kaiba Fan Club" groups on various social networking sites, with many of their classmates listed as members? Noa had rolled his eyes when they'd first seen it, but maybe teenage girls really were that crazy.

He couldn't say he was surprised that Mokuba was popular, especially with the ladies – the black-haired teen was good looking, tall, rich, smart, funny… good looking. Noa couldn't really blame them for their attraction. But he hadn't expected to see so many girls posting about how much they liked him, too. He supposed he ought to be flattered, but he just found the whole thing weird. He almost felt… guilty, as if he'd done something wrong, to have attracted such attention.

… And now he was deliberately trying to curry the favor of those fans.

Noa sighed to himself. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He wasn't actively persuading the Junior class girls to vote for him in the student body elections taking place the next day. And he found the whole idea of popularity contests to be a bit distasteful. He thought it'd be better if his fellow students voted for their class president on merit, platform, character… not on "cute factor." That wasn't how he wanted to win. But he wasn't stupid either. Having a fan club… well, at least those were free votes. And having Mokuba as his campaign manager meant he'd locked in those girls' votes as well.

He wished Mokuba had reconsidered his decision to not run for a position in student body. The younger teen would've made an excellent vice president. But Mokuba had claimed that he'd be too overwhelmed trying to take on those duties along with his schoolwork and work work. He had stated it so convincingly that it almost sounded like a valid explanation… except Noa knew better. Of course Mokuba could handle the workload! But for some reason, he didn't want to do it…

Noa had talked things over with Seto as well, in case his big brother had a problem with him taking on this new role, but the brunette was supportive and encouraging. He even tried giving some advice, albeit awkwardly… he really had no experience with high school politics. But it was the thought that counted, even if Noa didn't quite agree with Seto's opinion that there was nothing wrong with playing up one's popularity to gain more votes. But it wasn't like he was going to make himself unpopular just to prove a point either.

Losing wasn't an option. Of course he'd win. Not to prove himself to Seto, or to the memory of his father… not even because of his own pride as a Kaiba… but because he wanted to be someone worthy of Mokuba. Maybe some would say he had his priorities in the wrong place, that he ought to be doing it for himself first and foremost, but Noa had learned a long time ago that pride meant nothing if he was alone.

He found himself shaking his head at the random wanderings of his mind as he and Mokuba arrived at their lockers, then he immediately shook his head again, this time more vigorously. Mokuba caught his reaction and laughed; someone had left cupcakes on the ledge above the lockers, with large nametags dangling from ribbons.

"They went through the effort of making them, so we might as well eat them," Mokuba said as he handed one off to Noa with a half smile and a shrug. He looked around, trying to see if whoever had left them was hanging around and watching them, but with all the students streaming through the walkway, it was impossible to tell.

Noa looked at the pink frosted cupcake sitting on his palm, then stuck it in his locker in favor of the books he needed for their next class. Even though he was the one with the sweet tooth, he wasn't keen on eating some random gift from some random girl. That just seemed like too intimate a thing to do… or maybe he'd been hanging around Seto too much. Seto, who didn't seem to want to eat anything unless it came from Yami's kitchen...

"So are you ready for the assembly?" Mokuba asked. It'd be the last chance for the candidates to state their positions and beg for votes. Though… the way most of the kids saw it, it was just a way to get excused from one period of class.

"Yeah, I think so."

"You actually have a preplanned speech, or are you winging it?"

"I made notes on everything I wanted to cover, but I don't have an actual speech composed. I don't want to sound stuffy. And if it's good enough for Kaiba Corp. meetings, it's good enough for a high school." He figured by now most of the students knew whom they were voting for since the election would take place the next morning.

"Yeah. And it's not like things will change at this point," Mokuba commented, confirming Noa's thoughts. Then seeing Noa gesture at his watch, he quickly grabbed his books as well, as they only had a minute or two before the next period began.

Just as they were turning away from their lockers, they nearly bumped into a girl who happened to be standing directly behind them.

"Sorry. Didn't see you there," Noa immediately mumbled.

"Oh, no… excuse me," she gasped in embarrassment while busily studying a spot on the concrete floor, between her shoes. "And uh, I just wanted to say, good luck, Noa. I'm voting for you for sure!" She thrust a note at the green-haired teen before abruptly fleeing into the thinning herd of migrating students.

Noa couldn't help but sigh. His latest admirer had sealed her note with a fuzzy teddy bear sticker… and a phone number.

Mokuba glanced over at his boyfriend, then laughed. "Another phone number, huh?"

"Yeah…" He didn't have time to put it in his locker, so instead he folded it up and stuck it in his pocket as they began walking down the hallway. It'd be nice to be able to get from class to class without having to run a gauntlet of ninja-like fangirls hiding behind lockers waiting to launch an attack, wielding cupcakes and love confessions as if they were weapons.

Mokuba continued grinning even as they picked up their pace. They only had a minute to get to class. But he still found the time to gently rib Noa by revisiting an earlier comment, whispering, "So… who was that?"

* * *

"Congratulations!"

Noa automatically nodded in the direction of the voice. He'd been hearing it over and over again since just before lunch, when they'd announced the members of the student council for the school year. Not that he was complaining of course. It felt good to have his peers' validation. But he'd known all along that he would win.

He'd heard through the grapevine that it'd been a landslide; he'd gotten over three-quarters of the vote, but he tried not to let it go to his head too much. School was over for the day. He needed to start thinking about work.

As he and Mokuba approached the younger teen's much coveted, Very Orange Tesla Roadster, they noticed there were two girls leaning against the car. Noa recognized the new Senior class treasurer; the other girl appeared to be a cheerleader. Noa wondered if he was about to be the recipient of a congratulatory custom cheer; Mokuba, on the other hand, wondered if they were scratching up the paint job by leaning against it.

"My friend here wanted to congratulate you," treasurer girl told Noa as she nudged her friend forward. She coupled that move with a wink.

Cheerleader girl giggled a little as she introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Yui."

Noa gave her a moment to say something more useful, then said, "Hi."

"I know we just met, but I was wondering if… maybe you're free this Friday?" Yui asked as she tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear.

What was with these girls just randomly wanting to date them? "Hm, probably not…" the green-haired teen responded with practiced ease.

"I see. Um, how about Saturday?"

Noa wasn't at all interested, but he wasn't going to be mean about iteither. Unfortunatey, he'd never found a good way to turn a girl down. "Sorry, I have plans already," he told her instead of just flat out rejecting her.

"Oh…" She turned and looked at her friend a moment, then back at Noa. "Someone told me you might have a girlfriend… Is that true?"

Noa wondered if Yamato would find it funny that after all these years, people still thought they were together. But at least it wasn't a lie either when he muttered, "I might be seeing someone, yes."

Yui's face reddened. "I see… Well, congrats. And um… have a good weekend, 'kay?"

"Thanks."

The two girls turned and walked off together while Mokuba furtively checked over his car. Much to his relief, there wasn't any damage. But he did manage to catch treasurer girl murmuring to her friend, "See, I told you he's into college girls," as they walked away.

Chuckling to himself, the younger Kaiba motioned for his boyfriend to get in the car. Once they were out of the parking lot and on their way to Kaiba Corp., he had to ask with a laugh, "Do girls like that really drive you nuts?"

"I guess it wouldn't bother me if there weren't so _many_ of them. And the fact that they do it right in front of you…"

"Well, that can't be helped," Mokuba pointed out.

"I know. But it's irritating. Would they be talking to me at all if I wasn't a Kaiba?"

"Of course they would!" Mokuba confidently replied. Noa was highly intelligent, charming and handsome, so of course girls would be attracted, regardless of his family name.

"So you want them to hit on me then?"

Mokuba laughed. "No! But I can't exactly blame them for it either. You're just that cute."

Noa just shook his head. He didn't quite agree. But at least his boyfriend found some amusement in it.

They drove on in relative silence the rest of the way to Kaiba Corp., mentally switching from school mode to work mode as they approached the gleaming building towering over the rest of the business district. On school days they could only put in two, maybe three, hours in at work, so it was important that they were as organized as possible going in. Since Mokuba was driving, Noa even took the opportunity to start checking his emails, mostly to clear out clutter so that he'd be able to jump right in as soon as he sat down at his desk.

The younger Kaiba pulled into the parking structure and immediately noticed Yami's car parked alongside Seto's. He couldn't remember if Yami had said he planned on working at Kaiba Corp. that day, so he made a quick mental note to knock before barging into Seto's office, just in case.

The pair made their way through the lobby and headed up to the top floor, stopping to check in with Ms. Shiroi, now working as both Noa and Mokuba's executive assistant. She efficiently doled out whatever required their attention: faxes, mail, messages, then quietly asked, "So… good news?"

Noa's smile was all she needed as an answer.

She smiled back. "Congratulations, sir."

"Thank you."

"So uh… did Seto say he wasn't to be disturbed?" Mokuba interjected, tripping slightly over the words. It wasn't the most subtle way to ask, but at least it didn't sound _too_ obvious either. He looked over at the heavy doors to his big brother's office, as if he could somehow find an answer in the wood's grain.

Ms. Shiroi looked at her phone, letting her chin drop down just enough so that her long bangs drifted down to hide her face. "No, he didn't. You can go right in."

Mokuba nodded his thanks, then followed Noa into Seto's office. Sure enough both Seto and Yami were in there and thankfully working, though they both stopped to look up and acknowledge the teens as they entered.

Yami had his laptop set up at the smaller project table, and around him were various printouts stacked in haphazard piles. He was dressed a little more formally than usual, wearing a dark purple blazer, black ribbed tee and dark wash jeans – which meant he was there for business, not pleasure. But Noa couldn't resist opening his mouth anyhow to cheerfully comment, "I'm amazed - you're both dressed for once!"

Seto frowned at him. "What?"

"I didn't think you two could be in the same room together for an extended period of time without having se…"

"So, hey, Noa has some good news!" Mokuba quickly interrupted as his big brother began glaring at the green-haired teen for his not-so-innocent observation.

"Is that right? It had better be good news, because I am _working_," Seto growled. "Like I've been all day."

Yami had to bite his tongue on that one. It wasn't exactly true. But he wasn't as successful at hiding his smirk.

Luckily, Noa had the good sense to not press his luck any further on that front. So instead he told Seto, "It's not really a big deal, but I'm the new Junior class president…"

Seto grunted. "Of course you are. I figured that out the moment you sauntered in here like a cat with a canary."

"Don't say it like that, Seto," Yami chided. He turned to grin at Noa. "Good job, Noa."

"Hn." Seto leaned back slightly and studied the two teens before him. Noa wasn't a patient person by any means, but he was improving on that front; Seto could only see the barest hint of anxiety in his eyes. Truth be told, he'd only been teasing the green-haired teen in retaliation for his earlier comments, but it was clear to him now, Noa was waiting for his acknowledgement.

The brunette finally relaxed a little more in his chair and said, "The results speak for themselves – you did very well and I'm proud of you. I know you've worked hard to make this happen. You both did."

"Thanks, Nii-sama," Mokuba whispered. He'd done what he could to support Noa because he had wanted to, but it still felt good to receive recognition for it.

"Thanks," Noa echoed. But he still didn't seem completely satisfied for some reason. Seto was about to tell him that he'd only been kidding earlier when Noa sullenly added, "But I might have to cut back on work hours a little." He'd thought about it of course, weighed the pros and cons, talked it over with his family… but now that the election was over, he was having second thoughts. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea. They were all busy enough as it was. He could see how much work was on Seto's desk as well as Yami's makeshift workstation.

"We've already talked about this. You know it's not a problem. I appreciate your contributions here, but school's your number one priority, period," Seto replied. "And of course I'm not just talking about grades."

"But…"

"No buts. I mean it. Don't second guess yourself, not on something like this."

Seto was so confident in his assurance that Noa couldn't help but believe him. The younger Kaiba shook his head at his own misgivings before looking back up.

"Well, I'm just glad that it's over. Not the election, I mean - I knew I had it in the bag," Noa said, sounding much more sure of himself once again. "But I'm just glad I don't have to waste time and energy campaigning anymore. So now I can just concentrate on doing my job… my jobs, the best I can." He paused, then under his breath mumbled, "And maybe the fangirls will back off a little now…"

"I doubt it. I still get them from time to time," Seto muttered in such a low voice that Noa thought he was hearing things for a moment.

"What?"

"Me too," Yami confided with a short laugh.

It was funny how Seto could go from calmly admitting that he had female fans to getting all crazy jealous over the idea of Yami having some too. "Wait, what? Who?"

The shorter man shrugged. "I don't know 'who.' It just happens once in a while. It's more like, 'Oh, I thought you looked good in this magazine ad…' not 'Let's make babies.'"

Seto's throat began issuing a low, rumbling, snarling sound.

"Baby, it's no big deal…"

"Don't 'Baby' me…"

"So… we better get to work," Mokuba interrupted, recognizing the obvious cue to leave. "We just wanted to tell you the news, that's all."

"And… we're going now. To our offices," Noa added as he and Mokuba quickly shuffled out the door before shutting it behind them. It was kind of funny seeing Seto get mad at such a silly thing – he knew full well Yami was completely faithful to him – but on the other hand, Noa wondered if Yami secretly liked making Seto jealous.

He glanced over at Mokuba. The black-haired teen had always said he liked Noa for who he was, and that meant jealousy, fangirls and all. But Noa thought maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to work on his jealous streak, just a little. Just so he didn't come across all crazy like Seto.

And it wasn't like the fans were going anywhere, if what Seto said was true. Not that Noa hadn't already found a way to use that to his advantage. He was already thinking of running for Senior class president next year…

* * *

Author's Notes:  
- Not much to say... I think everything I wanted to convey on the topics of popularity and jealousy got covered in the body of the story itself.  
- As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!


	6. Principal and Interest

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho is the creation of Yoshihiro Togashi. Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after chapter 4 of Scenes, "Dating Scene."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto is 23, Yami is 22, Noa is 18, Mokuba is 17.

* * *

**Principal and Interest**

**Sixteen (Going on Seventeen) Series**

* * *

Seto strode into the Domino High School administrative offices as if stepping into his own corporate office – his pace brisk, his head held high. Too bad he wasn't as confident as he looked. Actually, he was dreading the meeting. He'd rather be facing down a bunch of angry shareholders than sit down for a "parent-teacher" conference with the school principal, especially since he didn't know the reasons behind it. Had Mokuba or Noa done something wrong? It just didn't seem possible. He couldn't imagine what they might've done to require his attention to such a degree…

_The lady on the phone said very specifically, "This isn't about anything bad. There's just something important that the principal would like to discuss, face to face,"_ Yami reminded his lover. _So don't start worrying until we find out what he wants._

The brunette merely grunted. He didn't get how Yami could be so damn calm about it, but after years together, it didn't irritate him as much as it used to. That was how it worked – he worried and fretted, and Yami calmed him down, like an anchor in rough seas.

He turned to the plump woman closest to the counter, who was now staring at the two of them. "Seto Kaiba, here to see the principal," he told her.

She blinked at him, then stared at her computer a minute before saying, "… Oh, oh yes! Of course."

Seto muttered something under his breath about employee competence.

"Principal Takenaka, Mr. Kaiba is here," she said into her speakerphone. Then she paged Mokuba and Noa via intercom, asking them to come to Administration as well.

The door behind her opened and a heavyset blonde man in a bland, tan colored suit appeared in the doorway. He paused to take a good look at his pair of guests; they were barely older than his students, though Seto's suit was probably more expensive than all of Takenaka's combined. On the other hand Yami was even dressed like a student, in a burgundy prep school style blazer, cuffed plaid slacks, and a v-neck t-shirt printed to look like a button up shirt and tie.

"It's nice to see you, Mr. Kaiba. Please…" And Principal Takenaka took a step back and gestured into his office.

"As long as it's good news," Seto grumbled, but he walked in without another word of complaint, with Yami following right behind.

The office was rather small and the décor dated, all the fabrics and carpet and even the paint done in shades of scholastic tan and beige, but it was fairly tidy at least. It looked a lot like its owner.

"Thank you for coming," Takenaka said once he'd shut the door behind them. Seto turned around and saw the man extending his hand to him, so he shook it. Takenaka then did the same with Yami as well. "And you are Mr. Kaiba's partner, correct?"

Truthfully Takenaka knew who Yami was; anyone who regularly read the business or entertainment sections of news sites would know. But it seemed too presumptuous to not ask for an introduction.

"Don't call him that," Seto replied sharply, the day's tension seeping into his face as well as his voice. Yami already had a partner in Yugi, just as Seto had Mokuba. Using that term to describe anyone outside of that and it sounded like they were talking about business associates or something. "He's a member of my family," Seto settled on saying, not wanting to share any other term with someone he didn't know.

The shorter duelist eyed his boyfriend, then sighed softly. "Yami Mutou," he introduced himself, offering his hand.

"It's nice meeting you, Mr. Mutou."

At least Yami understood… no offense had been meant; Takenaka had only been asking for an introduction, but Seto had been too caught up in his own thoughts to hear anything else. Good thing Takenaka had plenty of experience dealing with all sorts of teenagers and young adults, though from what he remembered, Seto hadn't been like any other kid he'd ever met.

The young CEO had been a student at Domino High for only a month or two. He'd literally shown up out of the blue one day, in a limo, with a pair of bodyguards in tow. Takenaka always made an effort to welcome new transfer students, but Seto hadn't been interested in exchanging pleasantries, or in explaining why he, already a successful businessman with the equivalent of a college education, wanted to attend public high school. He had wanted to enroll, he'd wanted it done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and he'd made a huge fuss over his class schedule too, because he hadn't wanted to be there more than half a day. Takenaka had found himself bending as many school and district policies as he could to accommodate the pushy teen, and even then Seto hadn't been happy.

It had seemed things were okay after that though, once Seto had started classes. His grades had been untouchable and he hadn't caused any trouble. But one day, without warning, Seto had stopped attending. He hadn't given a reason in withdrawal forms he had sent. Takenaka had figured Seto had only been attending on a whim and had lost interest, so he hadn't given it further thought until years later, a Kaiba Corp. limo pulled up on enrollment day, and Seto stepped out with his two younger brothers.

At the time, Takenaka hadn't had the chance to talk to them, though he had been able to hear the brunette even from a distance. He'd thought that Seto hadn't changed much – he was still very demanding and to the point. His brothers had been smaller copies of him as far as attitude, just a little quieter, a little more laid back. Thankfully, like their older brother, they'd been good students as well and had caused no real problems during their years at school.

Speaking of whom, the two of them would be arriving any moment for the conference…

"Please, go ahead and have a seat." The principal pointed to some well-worn chairs, then returned to his side of the desk and sat down himself. "We'll start in just a moment."

Yami took a seat, but Seto just looked at the chair in front of him, then shook his head. "Just cut to the chase."

"I'll explain once Noa and Mokuba get here. Since it affects them, I'd like for them to hear it at the same time. But let me reassure you, it really is good news," Takenaka told him, smiling.

Seto grunted. He saw no reason to trust the principal's assurances. Once he found out why he was there, he'd make up his own mind whether it was good or bad news.

"Principal Takenaka, Noa and Mokuba Kaiba are here."

"Good, please send them in." Takenaka managed to not sigh in relief. Seto had been glaring at him off and on ever since he'd walked into his office. Maybe he should've just given him the news over the phone, but in the past the parents and students always seemed to enjoy being told in person.

The teens looked a little confused when they walked in. Their confusion only grew when they saw Yami and their big brother there.

"Uh…" Mokuba began, though he stopped himself from asking if they were in trouble.

"Have a seat boys," Takenaka said. He gave them the same smile he'd given Seto just moments earlier, but the younger Kaibas didn't seem to be buying it either.

Mokuba and Noa looked at each other, then slowly sat down next to Yami.

Takenaka took a small breath, then began. "I'd like to extend my congratulations to you two. Noa, you are this year's valedictorian! And Mokuba, you're our salutatorian!" He began clapping for their accomplishments, then trailed off as the quartet on the other side of his desk stared at him in awkward silence.

Seto would've snapped, "And you couldn't tell me that over the phone?!" but Yami had reached over and taken his hand and was now tugging on it a little.

_I don't know what that means, _Yami said to Seto, although he was smiling as if he understood.

Seto stared at him a moment. _Hmm, I guess Yugi wouldn't have had that on his mind while he was in school… _he finally commented.

_Huh?_

While Seto explained the honors via mind link – and Yami scolded him for his comment, which finally put a smile on his face, the younger Kaibas exchanged glances again, then Noa turned back and said, with a touch of arrogance, "Well, thanks. But I already figured that out, since the teachers here like posting grades outside of the classrooms…"

"Of course we also take into consideration factors other than grades," Takenaka clarified. "We were impressed by your leadership skills as Junior class president last year and student council president this year, and also your work as president of the scholastics club. And Mokuba, the same applies to you, with your work as student council secretary on top of your excellent grades."

"Thank you," Mokuba said, punctuating it with a smile. As always he was far more diplomatic than his boyfriend.

"Good job, both of you," Seto finally told them. He really was proud of them, even though it wasn't like anyone else at the school had had a chance at the titles once his brothers had decided that was what they were aiming for. Too bad they couldn't both receive top honors though… Mokuba wasn't stupid, lazy or incapable by any means. Seto didn't want anyone to think less of him just because Noa had taken the top spot.

Mokuba looked up, as if he'd heard every thought filtering through his brother's head. He gave Seto a lopsided smile, as if to apologize for not doing better, though he wasn't really all that sorry. Noa had worked hard for the top spot and deserved it. Not that Mokuba was necessarily the sort to be satisfied with being second best, but it was far more important to him to support those he loved than to worry about his own position.

A now clued in Yami clapped them both on the shoulder – and gave Noa's stub of a ponytail a quick ruffling, earning him a rolling of the eyes and a groan - as he congratulated them before courteously thanking the principal, since it was obvious Seto would not do so. Mokuba looked over at his other guardian, his grin broadening a little. If anyone understood his mindset it was Yami, who somehow managed to balance being a supportive boyfriend while maintaining his crown as the King of Games. Not that Yami ever wanted to lose at anything, but he was also okay being the power behind the throne instead of the one sitting on it.

After seeing that the quartet had absorbed the news, Takenaka went ahead with the rest of what he had to say. "Obviously, being valedictorian and salutatorian also means the two of you will have the honor of leading and addressing your class at the graduation ceremonies. I'm sure you both can find some words of encouragement or inspirational stories to share with your peers."

"Graduation, huh?" Seto murmured, only loud enough for Yami to catch.

"Guess taking Speech and Debate will come in handy after all," Noa said with a laugh. But he didn't think it'd be too hard to come up with something. He figured he could wing it and babble about hard work and corporate ladders and the kids would just naively eat it up. If that was good enough for Kaiba Corp. it certainly was good enough for high school. It wasn't like they were getting their doctorates or accepting a Nobel Peace Price or something.

"We'll work on it," Mokuba promised.

Takenaka nodded, satisfied. The group across from him simply smiled back with the type of smiles people put on when they had nothing else to say and were wanting to leave, but were too polite to do so. All except for Seto. The brunette now looked bored, as if after building up all that anxiety while waiting for the news, the conference had ended up being a waste of his time. But Takenaka didn't think that was the case. He'd heard the pride in Seto's voice when he'd congratulated his brothers on their accomplishment. So despite Seto's earlier protests, Takenaka knew he'd done the right thing by calling him in to deliver the news.

With everything now said and done, Takenaka quickly wrapped things up. "All right then. I won't keep you boys any longer. You may return to class. We will be making an announcement over the intercom at the end of the class period, but of course I wanted to deliver the news personally. So congratulations once again." He turned to Seto and Yami. "And thank you both for coming. I know you're a busy man, but I'm sure you'll agree, this was quite the achievement and it meant a lot to the boys that you came."

"Yes, thank you," Yami answered, standing up as Seto muttered into his head, _He does realize this is a public school with no record of academic excellence, right?_

Seto wondered if he should have protested when Mokuba had asked to switch to a public school and settled on Domino as the one he'd wanted to attend. Domino High had always struck him as some sort of dumping ground for mediocre students. They'd let the Mutt graduate after all! Seto himself had only ended up there because of some strange compulsion he'd felt at the time – which he now figured was either because of his connection to the fourth Blue Eyes, or to Yami. Mokuba didn't even have that much. But he'd never explained himself, and Seto hadn't asked.

But despite Seto's opinion of the school and his seeming unimpressed, Yami knew better. Considering the younger Kaibas had both put in a good number of hours at work throughout high school and that their home life was pretty unconventional by most standards, Yami didn't think it'd been easy for them to excel, even at a school with no reputation for academics. _Still, they did well. So just smile and pretend to agree._

Seto grunted and after a moment's consideration, inclined his head at the principal before ushering Yami and his brothers out.

They took a minute to say their "have a nice days" before heading their separate ways – Noa and Mokuba to class, Seto and Yami to work and home respectively. The older couple watched as the younger pair walked off, chatting cheerfully about how their classmates would react once the principal's announcement went out, then once they disappeared around a corner, Seto and Yami turned and walked out of the school together in near silence.

"Are you okay?" Yami had to ask once they were out of the building, as Seto escorted him to his car.

"It's not that I don't care," Seto said. Yami looked at him, then it dawned on him that his boyfriend was talking about what he had said last in the principal's office.

"I know. And Noa and Mokuba know too. This wasn't a waste of time."

Seto didn't respond to that. Instead, he glanced back at the school, then muttered, "Graduation is in what, 2 months?"

"About 6 weeks, I think."

Six weeks. Seto had barely lasted that long during his stint as a student. Each day, each week, had felt like forever back then… And now Mokuba and Noa were on the verge of graduating. "It's just high school. Is it such a big deal?"

Yami shrugged. Technically he hadn't even attended high school, and of course Seto hadn't finished either. So it didn't really mean anything to him, though he remembered how Yugi, Jou, and his other friends had been so excited, and how they'd celebrated the entire day and all the way into the night. But it wasn't like Seto was really looking for an answer to his question anyhow.

"I suppose we should go somewhere nice for dinner, to celebrate…" Seto awkwardly suggested. He did want to reward them with something. His brothers deserved it.

"I'll pick a place," Yami offered, his voice gentle. Then he stopped, and reached out to stop Seto as well. They had arrived at his car.

Seto nodded a bit absentmindedly. It was fine. Yami would choose some place appropriate. "I need to get back to work, then."

The crimson-eyed man smiled and gave his lover a quick hug, then got in his vehicle, started the engine, backed out of his parking spot, and slowly drove away. But as he left he took one last glance in the rearview mirror. Despite what he had just said, Seto was still standing there in the parking lot. But he wasn't watching Yami leave. Instead he was staring at the school, his hands in his pockets, motionless as a statue… then he finally gave a shake of his head and turned away, and began heading for his car as well.

* * *

Author's Notes:  
- Since I don't ever recall seeing a principal in Yu-Gi-Oh! canon, I borrowed Principal Takenaka from Yu Yu Hakusho. I thought he really fit the bill. The high school there seemed to be full of delinquents and underachievers and the teachers were lousy and bullies – sound familiar? - and yet the principal wasn't a bad guy.  
- I may or may not have said this before, but in case I didn't, my theory on how Seto ended up at Domino High is that he was drawn there by the fourth BEWD. Although he's someone who refuses to believe in fate or destiny, he was clearly meant to cross paths with Yami.


	7. Valediction

Title: Sixteen (Going on Seventeen)  
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.

Setup for this particular fic:  
- This story takes place after chapter 6, "Principal and Interest."  
- Ages of characters in this story: Seto and Yami are 23, Noa is 18, Mokuba is 17.

* * *

**Valediction**

**Sixteen (Going on Seventeen) Series**

* * *

Seto had never been much of a movie or television watcher. But he'd seen enough in passing to assume that he knew everything about high school. Graduation was either a happy event with people singing and dancing with carefree abandon, or something a little more solemn and boring, with throngs of teens in matching robes moving about like a marching band.

What he hadn't expected was something more like an outdoor concert or play, with the "actors" – the grads – loosely lined up in pairs, snapping photos of one another and yelling greetings to nearby acquaintances, waiting to be released onto the field like cattle in a stockyard. The friends and family attending weren't all that much better; they were a noisy bunch too, packed into the bleachers, lined up shoulder to shoulder along the fence ringing the stadium, as they eagerly awaited the start of the ceremony.

Knowing that Seto didn't like crowds, Yugi had advised that they group up elsewhere. And so they had ended up on a sparsely populated little knoll that overlooked the far end of the stadium, under a large pine tree. Sugoroku had brought a heavy blanket for them to sit on, as if they were having a family picnic. Well, more like a semi-dysfunctional family picnic…

"It's bad business practice to close the shop for the day," Seto was muttering. "You should've left the Mutt at home to guard the house."

Sugoroku just gave Seto a tolerant smile. He knew the brunette didn't actually mean that… he was, as always, thinking about how things were going at his own company. Besides, it was hard to take anything he was saying seriously when he was bouncing Jou's two-year-old daughter Hitomi on his lap while trying to check text messages over her head.

Of course Jou couldn't help but bark back, "Shut up, it's not like you're at work neither."

Seto held up his phone and smirked.

The blonde snorted. The second the ceremony began, he was pretty sure that that phone would get turned off. "'Sides, it's nice to get a break once in a while. Bein' at the shop isn't bad, 'specially since it lets me take care of my little girl, but lifting furniture and heavy boxes…" He gave a slight shake of his head. Although he was pretty strong, being a mover was hard work. "Yeah, it's nice havin' the day off," Jou repeated. He glanced at the man standing off to the side of the group. "Bet it's nice for ya too, right?"

Isono slowly nodded. "I'm honored to be attending Mokuba and Noa's graduation."

Jou couldn't help but snicker. Even though Isono was there as a… what was he, a family friend? - he sounded so formal, as if he were still on duty. Jou wondered if he ever loosened up. Or maybe he was so unused to having an afternoon off, being always at his boss' beck and call, that he didn't know any other way to act.

Yami looked over at Jou, then at Isono, and grinned. His thoughts were similar to Jou's: to this day, he didn't know Isono's schedule as it seemed the man was always working. But it wouldn't have been right to go without him or to make him attend to his duties through such an event. He really thought of Isono as part of the extended family, like a patient uncle or something… quietly watching over them while keeping enough of a distance that Seto didn't mind it.

Of course, if any issues did arise, Isono would be back on duty, regardless of the occasion… or his attire. The man was currently dressed in a dark blue polo shirt with the company logo stitched on it, the sort of thing that got handed out at company events, and carefully pressed khakis. Yami wondered if he'd bought them specifically for the occasion, since he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the chief of security in anything but a suit.

Seto was acting like Isono was still on the clock though, or maybe even like he'd never seen him before in his life. The two of them hadn't exchanged so much as a greeting. Yet they didn't seem at all bothered by it, even if it made everyone around them feel obligated to make up for the silence between them.

"I'm sure the boys will be very happy that you came," Sugoroku said to him, feeling the need to say something since Seto wouldn't.

Isono simply nodded again.

Before anyone could try and get the conversation rolling once more, the speakers crackled and a woman's voice announced the start of the ceremony. Everyone turned their attention to the field as the familiar melody of "Pomp and Circumstance" began playing…

"Oh good, it's starting!" Yugi sprang up and ran to the fence, straining to see all the way across the stadium as the grads began their slow march onto the field. He couldn't make out Mokuba or Noa amongst the sea of robes and mortarboards but it was pretty safe to assume they were the pair heading the line.

"Man, it feels like it was just last week when it was our turn down there, right Yugi?" Jou said with a smile as he joined his friend by the railings. It really felt like that, and yet years had passed and he'd grown so much. Hitomi got up and ran over to him, wanting a boost so she could see what was going on, and he picked his daughter up and hugged her to his chest.

Yugi grinned at them. "Mmhmm."

"Before you know it, little Hitomi will be down there too. Kids grow up so fast," Sugoroku said with a chuckle and a sigh.

"Bleah, don't say that. No way am I ready!" Jou laughed as everyone else joined him and Yugi. Then he glanced over and Seto's expression caught his attention. Now that the taller duelist didn't have a phone to hide behind, he looked a little… off. Jou thought about it. He wouldn't normally feel sorry for Seto no matter the situation, but he couldn't imagine being in his position right now. Yes, Jou had watched his sister graduate three years earlier, but that wasn't the same - he'd never thought of himself as her guardian or anything like that. He hadn't been the one raising her.

Although Seto felt Jou staring at him, he didn't bother to meet his gaze. "I'm still amazed they let you graduate," Seto said, but his tone was so mild it barely registered as an insult.

"We can't all be dropouts," Jou replied dryly. "But hey, look at it this way. You finally made it to graduation."

Jou expected Seto to get fired up, to make a snappy comeback and get in the last word as he always did, but the brunette didn't say anything for a good minute. Then he finally turned and gave the blonde a look. "Why are you here anyways?"

"What's wrong with me wanting to see your brothers graduate?"

Seto ground his teeth a little, inexplicably irritated. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but at the same time, didn't Jounouchi have other things he needed to do? Like the rest of the gang... they'd be celebrating with them on Friday night. After all, even the guests of honor wouldn't be available later this evening… they were planning on attending the Grad Night party along with the rest of the students.

"They're my friends too, ya know. I didn't just do it for a day off. I wanted to come," Jou told him sincerely.

The young CEO looked back out at the field. The graduates were quickly filling in the seats, like dominos falling into place along a track. Other than that, there wasn't much else going on yet.

Maybe it wasn't Jou at all. Seto had felt a nagging sense of unease all day… no, all week, but he'd thought if he'd kept it at a distance, it'd just fade away on it's own. He thought about Jou's earlier jibe. He'd heard it all before of course, about how he hadn't managed to finish high school, but for some reason it stung more than usual.

Just as graduation wasn't what he'd thought it'd be, being a high school student hadn't conformed to his expectations either. He didn't even remember what had motivated him to try it in the first place…Yami had called it fate, that they were destined to have met. He supposed he could accept that, if pressed to pick a reason. It was better than thinking that he had snapped after overhearing one too many nasty comments made behind his back at Kaiba Corp.

He remembered that his first impressions hadn't been good. The curriculum had been lacking, moreso than he'd expected. He remembered thinking that he'd been more qualified to teach the classes than most of the teachers! And the student body hadn't been much better, just a hodgepodge of random kids stuffed into classrooms for several hours of the day, like wild animals in a pen. The bullies had tried to pick on him the first few days, thinking he'd be an easy target as a soft bellied, rich brat, but Seto had put them in their place quickly. He'd put the other kids in their place too; he hadn't wanted to be their lunch buddy, their study partner, their teammate. After that, everyone had left him alone - even the teachers – and he'd thought that was just fine.

But… he'd been left with the strange feeling that he was missing out on something, though he hadn't been able to figure it out no matter how much he'd tried to analyze it. Surely it couldn't have been stupid things like school dances or football games, hallway gossip or lunches in the cafeteria. He hadn't the interest or time for such frivolities. But before he'd found the answer, well, he'd ended up at the Kame Game Shop and had that first, disastrous duel against Yami. After that, revenge had taken over his every thought, spreading through his mind like cancer. School had no place in his life after that.

… Why on Earth then, had he wanted to see Noa and Mokuba in school? Certainly they'd have gotten just as good an education… no, far better, from private tutors. And on top of that, why had they asked to go to Domino High, knowing the level of mediocrity there?

The loudspeakers crackled again, then screeched. Like a lot of other people, Seto looked up at it in annoyance, wrinkling his nose slightly. But at least it had gotten his attention at an opportune moment. A district representative was asking for everyone's attention for the start of the ceremony. And beside him was Mokuba, ready to take the mike and address the grads as their class salutatorian.

Listening to the confidence in his little brother's voice once he began speaking, the brunette relaxed a little. Mokuba was a talented speaker and had a charisma that made people want to listen to him, even if all he was doing was spouting random, rose-tinted thoughts about the great times they'd had in high school. Seto remembered Mokuba saying that he and Noa had decided to work together on their speeches to avoid overlapping subjects… apparently Mokuba had settled on good memories as his topic.

Seto glanced over at the other young men standing next to him. Jou was grinning like an idiot, as if he understood everything Mokuba was talking about, as if he too had gone to prom and been crowned king, or seen his grades top the lists posted outside the classrooms. And Yugi had a fond, wistful smile on his face, which seemed an odd reaction considering he'd been bullied and teased during his years in school. Even Yami, who had only "attended" high school because Yugi had carried the Puzzle everywhere with him, was nodding along like Mokuba had uncovered some of his long lost memories.

Seto shut his eyes a moment. The elder Kaiba still didn't think he'd missed that much. But he had to admit, Mokuba managed to make high school sound like the most awesome, most fun thing a teenager could go through. It almost made him feel a little nostalgic for the things he'd never known.

The teens had been asked to keep their speeches fairly short, around 10 minutes between the two of them, so before Seto knew it, Mokuba was wrapping up. Seto joined in clapping for his brother, then laughed along with the crowd as one of Mokuba's classmates called out a last minute love confession to him. Used to the attention, Mokuba didn't bat an eyelash at all; he just gave the girl a smile and a wave, then introduced Noa as the green-haired teen stepped up to the podium for the valediction.

Noa waited until the laughter died down, then launched his speech, "The Road to the Future," a not-so-subtle nod to Seto's direction in life. And while he didn't have the same charm as Mokuba – he didn't care about catering to the crowd; he was a little too blunt with his wording – everyone still gave him their full attention. He was well spoken and had an air of authority about him, sounding far more mature than his age would indicate. It was appropriate then that Noa started off talking about college and continued education, since he, Mokuba and many of their classmates were headed down that route. But once again Seto found his thoughts drifting a little…

Considering how badly his high school career had gone, Seto had never considered enrolling in college. He just hadn't seen the point in bothering when he'd been getting by just fine with out it; he hadn't had the time to spare. Maybe that's why he'd had problems getting his brothers to commit to going…

When he had first brought it up, Mokuba had been less than enthused. Apparently he had planned to immediately jump into his role as Vice President of Kaiba Corp., full time, the day after he graduated. College hadn't been in his plans at all. But Yami had gently urged him to reconsider… Mokuba would have all the time in the world to be Vice President. He'd only get one chance to step out into the world as a young adult, to take the path his big brother hadn't had the luxury of taking.

Noa hadn't been so set in his plans. He had only said that he'd wanted to go where Mokuba went. But when Yami had pulled him aside, Noa admitted that he was confused about what he'd want for himself. He'd wanted very much to prove himself at Kaiba Corp., but at the same time he'd wanted to prove himself scholastically as well.

So Yami had asked the teens to take a little time to consider their options, then called for a family meeting a few days later. The four of them had sat down at that time and discussed the possibilities, from not going at all, to local colleges and universities, to world-renowned institutions like Cambridge and Yale. Mokuba had made it clear then – he had no intention of moving out… he'd promised years ago that he'd never leave, if that was what his big brother wanted. Seto had wanted to let him out of that promise, if that was what was holding him back, but Yami had stopped him, though he'd never given more explanation than, "The promise wasn't made only for your sake."

In the end, they'd settled on a compromise that they could all live with: Mokuba and Noa would apply to Domino University. It wasn't quite the world ranked university Seto had been hoping for, but at least the school had decent business and information technology programs. And a part-time schedule would enable the teens to make steady progress towards their degrees while allowing them to put in a good number of hours at Kaiba Corp., as they wished.

Seto sighed. Even with the added burden of school, they had wanted to follow in his footsteps. He could only hope he'd sufficiently cleared the path before them.

Sometimes he wondered if he'd done enough to move past the person he had been. But then Yami's arm slipped around his waist and his automatically moved to mimic the gesture, and he permitted himself a small smile. He was grateful for the reminder; the person he'd been would've never let anyone get that close, especially someone like Yami, who'd both infuriated and attracted him from the instant they met. And suddenly he was grateful too for his few months at Domino High School, for having made that meeting possible.

It seemed that they'd barely begun leaning into each other when Noa started winding down his speech; he had to keep the body of it a bit shorter to fit in his closing, a heartfelt thanks to each member of his family for taking him in, supporting him, caring about him. Seto's smile grew a little as the crowd sent Noa off with a nice round of applause, and then he took another glance around. Everyone in the immediate area that hadn't yet gotten to the railing was now moving towards it, and there was a heightened sense of anticipation that he hadn't felt earlier.

With the student speeches over, Principal Takenaka stepped up to the podium to preside over the actual graduation. The grads stood up on cue, nearly bouncing from their seats in excitement, and then on command from the principal, they all moved their tassels from right to left on their caps. Before the principal had even finished congratulating them and presenting them to the crowd, a few students were letting loose with hoots and hollers. It was infectious… within seconds it seemed the entire mass of former high school students were screaming and hugging and throwing their caps in the air. A beach ball and half dozen paper airplanes seemed to materialize out of nowhere, joining the mortarboards on their short-lived flights.

"It's that simple huh?" Seto found himself asking no one in particular as they watched the principal dismiss the graduates and wish them well one last time. For some reason he'd thought the entire thing would be more drawn out. But at least the celebratory atmosphere fit his expectations.

"Uh, yeah. It's *just* high school, right?" Jou drawled with a roll of the eyes.

Once again, Seto didn't snap back with the final word. Instead he turned his attention back to the field, squinting a little, as he tried to make out which of the robed teens were his brothers. But it didn't take too much searching to find them… While many of the graduates remained on the field with their classmates, celebrating, Mokuba and Noa had steadily made their way through the crowd, sprinkling quick, temporary goodbyes as they went. And they were now heading up the ramp at the back of the stadium to join up with their family and friends, reclaimed caps in hand. Mokuba was already shaking his hair loose from his ponytail, though Noa opted to keep his shorter tail in check, neat as always.

Seto didn't know what to say to them exactly. He needed time to think. But to his relief he didn't have to find the words right away. Yugi and Jou were the first to rush towards them, yelling their congratulations as soon as the pair reached the top of the ramp. Sugoroku and Isono also stepped forward, but were a little more reserved, waiting with proud smiles and congratulatory handshakes. Isono had to add a bow too of course, respectful as always. Then Yami hugged both teens to him and told them their speeches were excellent; he told them they did well, that he was so proud of them and loved them. And then, finally, he released them to Seto.

The brunette nodded slowly at both teens standing before him, then he opened his arms to them. A firm hug and a quiet, "Good job, both of you," was sufficient; there wasn't anything more to say that hadn't already been said, and they both understood how he felt anyhow.

Noa was the first to straighten up and pull away, though he lingered long enough to keep it from being awkward. He looked really pleased with himself, and pretty relaxed. Mokuba's expression, when he'd stepped back as well, was a little more hard to define. He was happy of course, but his eyes were a little shiny, as if he might've cried if Seto had drawn things out and made a bigger deal of it.

"So what's the plan, man?" Jou asked once it looked like they were done with the family bonding bit. He only knew that they weren't getting together to celebrate with Yugi-tachi, at least, not yet. Not until Friday rolled around and everyone was available.

Noa gave him his typical half smirk, half smile, then said to Yami and Seto, "Don't wait up, we probably won't be home tonight."

"Oh? Staying for the Grad Night party?" Yugi asked. He vaguely remembered attending his. He and his friends had stayed up and had fun until they all pretty much fell asleep on the floor near the Fine Arts wing. By the time the chaperones for the night had gone around and woken everyone up, it was already dawn. They'd helped one another to Sugoroku's station wagon, which Yugi had borrowed for the night, and headed to their respective homes for some real, restful sleep.

Noa gave a half shrug. "Figured we might as well make an appearance. It'd look bad if the student council president and secretary, slash winter formal prince and prom king, slash valedictorian and salutatorian, didn't make it to the party."

"Gosh, we get it already," said Jou, rolling his eyes. Yes yes, Noa and Mokuba were overachievers. And Noa especially didn't mind reminding everyone of that. "You're worse than your brother."

Noa's grin widened.

"Well, I'm really happy everyone came, and we don't mean to say hi and run, but we kinda have to get going…" Mokuba suddenly said.

"Already?" Sugoroku asked. He tried to get a glimpse of Seto's reaction but the breeze had blown Seto's bangs over his eyes.

Some of the other graduates were starting to wander in their direction, waving and hailing Mokuba and Noa. The younger Kaibas waved back. "Yeah. Grad Night won't start until after dinner, but we volunteered to help do some set up," Mokuba explained. "It was a last minute thing."

"Our class vice president messed up on planning," Noa added. Under his breath he muttered, "I knew I should've done it myself."

Yami smiled and nodded. "All right, have a good time then. Call us if you need anything of course."

"We will," Mokuba promised. Then he looked at his brother and waited for Seto to give him the go ahead to leave, in case there was anything he wanted to talk about before they left.

Seto just nodded. He still couldn't say anything. He was suddenly having a hard time keeping his thoughts straight. Noa was already 18; Mokuba would match that in less than a month…

Mokuba quickly turned to his classmates and told them he'd be along in just a minute, laughing as they began tugging Noa away instead, then turned back to Seto. The elder Kaiba had looked a little distracted moments earlier, but now he had his game face back on. Which might've been normal if he were at work, but at a graduation… Mokuba's eyes lingered on his brother's face a minute, trying to tease out what he might've been hiding, if anything, but the other teens were already getting antsy.

"Go on, Mokuba," Seto finally said. He had put his arm back around Yami's shoulders, but kept his grip loose and relaxed. It appeared that he was already working through whatever was on his mind, though Yami kept looking up at him as if he weren't completely convinced of that yet.

Mokuba gave a nod, but didn't move away just yet. He reached out to lightly touch Seto's wrist, and whispered, "Thanks, Nii-sama."

"Mokuba, come on already!" Noa called out. He was already heading back towards the school with the other volunteers who had come to fetch them.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Mokuba yelled back. He quickly flashed Seto his brightest smile, though his eyes were starting to feel a little watery again. But he held himself together, took a moment to tell Yugi and everyone else, "And again, thank you all for coming! Really… you guys are all awesome," before running after Noa and blending back in to the sea of graduates.

* * *

OWARI

Author's Notes:

- Thanks to nenya85 for beta work, and nagging me since I'm slow and lazy!  
- There's a sizeable jump between the earlier chapters of this series and "Principal and Interest" / "Valediction," mainly because I honestly have nothing specific to write about for the period in between. So I tried to touch on some of the things that occurred in the interim, things like Mokuba being crowned prom king and Noa growing his hair long enough for a short ponytail, in the middle of the overlying story. Hopefully it all makes sense.  
- Honestly I didn't want to write the graduation speeches. No one really listens to them, do they? : ) At the same time, I could see Seto, who already has a lot on his mind, kinda daydreaming a little as the speeches hit some of his hot buttons.  
- Slightly off topic, but now that "Sixteen (Going on Seventeen)" is done, I figured I'd proactively answer the question of, "Where is the story going from here?" Well, "Scenes" may or may not have another chapter to it. After that, there'll be either a really long one shot / two part story centered around Mokuba's birthday, and then, well, the end arc. Nearing the end, but plenty of story to still be told : )


End file.
